A luxury resort proposed for the Coachella Valley is set to serve surfers instead of golfers with a wave-making machine that could stir up water for professional surfing competitions or kids playing on foam boards.
The big waves are to roll at Coral Mountain, a proposed development that would combine a hotel and housing on 400 acres in La Quinta that have already been approved for a golf-centered community.
But with more than 100 golf courses already serving the region, the builders hope to instead stand out with a $200-million complex built around a surfing basin created by Kelly Slater Wave Co. The Solana Beach engineering firm founded by surfing legend Kelly Slater says it will provide the largest, rideable open-barrel, human-made waves in the world.
By substituting surfing and other adventure sports such as rock climbing for golf, developers Meriwether Cos. and Big Sky Wave Developments intend to create a new kind of neighborhood for the Palm Springs area, which has seen a demographic shift in recent years toward younger visitors and residents.
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