$64-Million Overhaul for Desert Mall

San Diego-based developer Excel Legacy Corp. said it plans a $64-million renovation of the Desert Fashion Plaza shopping mall on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

Excel Legacy, which formerly planned a $35-million expansion of the mall under the name Palm Springs Promenade, will now call it Desert Walk and will raze much of the current center to make way for the new development.

Excel said in a statement last week that it has formed a new project team, including development partner MBK Southern California Ltd. of Irvine and a new architect, the Beverly Hills office of Pasadena-based MCG Architecture.

The renovated mall will include an existing Saks Fifth Avenue, a two-story multiscreen cinema, a food court, a gourmet market, restaurants and various specialty shops. The Hyatt Regency Palm Springs, which adjoins the mall, will be integrated into the project.

Other new elements include outdoor fireplaces, water features, shaded areas for public activities and a pedestrian concourse, the developer said.

Pending approval by Palm Springs officials, a tentative schedule calls for demolition work to begin next summer, with completion the following year. Leasing for the project will be handled by CB Richard Ellis Retail Services.

Excel said the project is supported by Palm Springs Mayor Will Kleindienst. It called the design of the existing mall “inadequate and nonfunctional,” as evidenced by “deserted hallways.”

Excel, which acquired the mall in April 1998 for $13.6 million., has about 33 projects in various stages of completion, including Pointe Anaheim at the entrance to Disneyland and the Los Arcos Oasis, a 92-acre sports and retail-entertainment project in Scottsdale, Ariz.