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Archive for November 1, 2010

PGA WEST’S new ownership is busy restoring ‘The Western Home of Golf in America’

Photo by Evan Schiller

Martin Kaufmann November 8, 2021 10:55 am ET 

From the moment we first glimpsed PGA WEST at the “Skins Game” 35 years ago, we all knew that we had witnessed something transformative. Viewers couldn’t help but marvel at how land so rugged and unforgiving could be transformed into something so beautiful and seductive, ultimately luring an untold number of golfers from around the world to California’s Coachella Valley over the past 35 years.

PGA WEST quickly earned a moniker – “The Western Home of Golf in America” – that reflected the fact that all of the major professional tours and the NCAA regularly visited, allowing the game’s best players to test themselves against some of the stiffest designs of Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf, and Greg Norman. It also became a bucket-list destination for avid golfers and an attractive landing spot for couples looking to enjoy the good life in the desert.

Last year Century Golf Partners, an established operator of high-end clubs and resorts, teamed with Hankuk Industry, which owns courses in the U.S. and Japan, to acquire PGA WEST and The Citrus Club, including the Mountain and Dunes golf courses. That set off a whirlwind of activity, with the new ownership pouring resources into course improvements on all nine PGA WEST courses. The goal of this long-term project is three-fold: provide tournament conditions daily; bring more big tournaments to the property; re-establish PGA WEST as a must-visit destination with courses that are fixtures on top-100 lists.

“We want to secure our position in the top five of U.S. club resorts in the U.S.,” said Ben Dobbs, PGA WEST’s Executive Director. “We have the architects, the properties and the location to achieve this. Having iconic golf courses and great architects were just the beginning. Now we must be innovative, relevant and provide exceptional experiences.”

That attitude is reflected in the recently completed work on the Greg Norman Course, which opened in 1999. Greens were restored to their original sizes, and the TifDwarf Bermuda grass was replaced with TifEagle, which eventually will be installed at each course, creating optimal year-round conditions. In addition, more than 100 bunkers were rebuilt, the expansive native areas were restored, and turf was added to enhance playability on the brutal target-golf layout.

PGA WEST has also made a major commitment to deep-tine aerification equipment, ensuring healthier turf conditions. Each course is being aerified twice annually.

“Ultimately, we’ll have firmer greens and the ability to mow them lower,” said Chris May, Director of Agronomy, who will guide the eventual restoration of all nine courses. “We want tournament conditions on all of these courses before and after overseeding. The benefit of doing all of this work is they get in really good shape in the summer as well.”

The work on the Norman Course follows the restoration last year to the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course – which pairs with PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium when the PGA TOUR visits each January to play The American Express – and work this year on the Arnold Palmer Private Course.

The latter, with its finishing holes sculpted along the rugged Santa Rosa Mountains, produced some of the most memorable moments of the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing, including David Duval’s closing eagle in 1999 to shoot 59 and win the tournament. The course has never been in better shape. May’s team installed TifEagle putting surfaces over new greens irrigation, restored all greenside bunkers to original specifications, and replaced all of the bunker sand.

Brandon Johnson, the long-time senior architect for Arnold Palmer Design, returned to La Quinta to revitalize the picturesque finishing holes along the All-American Canal. Johnson put in new bunkering on Nos. 14 and 16 to create more differentiation between those approaches and added a knob on the back of the par-5 14th that presents a new risk-reward scenario for players trying to reach in two. “It definitely has a par-5 green now,” May said.

Johnson restored the other greens to their original contours, recapturing Palmer’s original vision.

“He tied together the whole course with one type of look,” May said.

PGA WEST’s executive team will face interesting choices on the Pete Dye Stadium Course, unquestionably one of Dye’s masterpieces. May guarantees “a restoration, not a renovation,” including recapturing the original green shapes and sizes.

“Every idea that Pete had is on this golf course,” May said. “It’s remarkably untouched – partly because it’s always been so busy that they weren’t able to do the work. We want to bring it back to what it once was.”

While May’s team is busy on the course upgrades, Dobbs also is overseeing enhancements to the five clubhouses and amenities. Those amenities include a recently opened $10 million Sports Club.

“Our owners have committed to owning us for generations, so that helps our team make long-term decisions,” Dobbs said. “I’m super-excited to be able to share everything that we are doing with golfers from around the world.”


Kim Edwards

5-Stars - My husband and I had a great experience with Kayla Cunard and the Sheri Dettman team! She is very knowledgeable, sweet and professional. She had a lot of patience with us as our home search spanned a few years. She showed us several homes and when we finally found the right one she guided us through the process smoothly. No problems at all! I would definitely recommend Kayla and Sheri Dettman to anyone in the market for a home in the desert. Thanks Kayla!

Terri Barton, CA

5 -Stars - We were assisted by Lauren Seuss in the recent purchase of a home in La Quinta. She was exceptional: Communicative, responsive, thorough, helpful, warm and friendly. Also, great knowledge of the area and willingness to go above and beyond to introduce us to the community. Thank you, Lauren!

What the NAR Settlement Means for Buyers and Sellers 

There has been significant media coverage of a recent legal settlement regarding the real estate industry. Last week the National Association of Realtors® entered into a settlement agreement in the Sitzer-Burnett case, agreeing to pay a $418 million fine. We’d like to clarify what this means for home buyers and sellers.

First, note that the settlement is pending approval by the courts, and if approved, won’t go into effect until mid-July. Thus, it has no immediate impact. If it goes into effect, buyers and sellers will see brokerages and agents adopting new policies nationwide.

Since the 90’s, seller’s agents have shared their commissions with buyer’s agents. This settlement will, in short, encourage buyers to pay for - and negotiate - compensation with their agents. Here’s how this will likely affect buyers and sellers:

SELLERS

  • The seller does not have to offer compensation to the buyer’s agent. This has always been the case and has not been affected by the settlement. There is no pre-set amount; it can be set at the initial marketing of the property or negotiated directly with the buyer’s representative prior to ratifying a sales contract. There are strategic implications to consider when taking either approach and how then may impact the value, timing, and logistics of the sale.
  • A seller will still be able to offer compensation for an agent who brings a buyer to the property and facilitates the sale for that buyer. The compensation amount, however, will no longer be published in the MLS, which feeds to all major portals like Zillow and Realtor.com, and is the de facto platform for searching available properties. Cooperating commissions can still be shared publicly on brokerage marketing materials including flyers, websites, and social media.
  • Sellers have always been - and will continue to be - able to negotiate commissions with their agent based on the exchange of services that agent is offering.
  • There will be changes made to the California Association of Realtors contract and forms to clearly delineate not only the amount, but how, when, and where offers of compensation will be exchanged.

BUYERS

  • By mid-July, before being shown any properties, buyers will be required to enter into a written agreement with their agent representative, which clearly defines the compensation that will be due in exchange for their agent’s service. Compensation must be a percentage or dollar amount and cannot be open-ended. For example, the agreement cannot say, “buyer broker compensation shall be whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer.” An agent cannot receive compensation for brokerage services for more than the amount or rate agreed to in the buyer representation agreement.
  • The compensation may be paid by the buyer, offset in the future by a seller willing to cover the amount, or covered within the loan structure in the form of a seller concession as part of the terms of the sales contract. There are limitations to the concession percentage allowance determined by the loan based on the buyer’s down payment that could impact the overall amount received.

Buyer compensation has historically been folded into the purchase price; as these changes go into effect, it remains to be seen how payment will be applied. Furthermore, it is unknown if and how these changes will impact home prices, particularly given the historically low supply and high demand in our competitive market.

In sum, the major news headlines and stories, from the New York Times, to CNN, have misrepresented and inaccurately reported this story. While change is inevitable in any industry, we are confident that you, our clients, understand and value our work, and we will continue to go above and beyond to exceed your expectations.

Dining Around The Desert: Kiki’s La Quinta

Kiki’s La Quinta opened last October in the space where Bucatini used to be next to the movie theatre on Washington and 48th. Kiki's offers a delightful dining experience with a blend of Italian-inspired cuisine and creative cocktails. I’ve had the pleasure of dining there multiple times, and it’s always been top-notch.

Jon Butler's culinary expertise, honed at reputable establishments like Penney and the Parlour, The Rose in Venice, and Republique in LA, brings a high standard to the kitchen. The focus on sourcing prime local ingredients alongside imported staples from Italy speaks to a commitment to quality and authenticity.

The menu boasts a variety of enticing dishes, from the popular Persimmon & Arugula Salad to the indulgent Sausage & Onion Pizza and Ricotta Gnocchi. My friends and I have tried homemade focaccia, burrata, carbonara arancini, and braised meatballs from the starter menu, all of which have garnered praise. The Heirloom Beets Salad with seasoned burrata is also a refreshing choice.

While the Fresh White Truffle Pizza might be a splurge, it's surely an experience worth trying for those looking to indulge. Other pasta options like the Fusilli Pesto and Shrimp Casarecce Alla Vodka are some of my favorites, showcasing various flavors and ingredients. The Rigatoni Bolognese and Braised Short Rib offer comforting and hearty options for those craving something savory, and they are two of Michael’s go-to entrees.

The well-crafted cocktails, from classics like the Aperol Spritz to classic concoctions like the Old Fashioned, perfectly complement the dining experience. And with a wine list covering Prosecco, Rose, Whites, and Reds from California and Italy, there's something to suit every palate.

Overall, it's clear that Kiki's La Quinta has made a significant impact on the local food scene, offering a combination of excellent food, attentive service, and inviting ambiance. It's no wonder my friends and I plan to return for more culinary adventures.

CONTACT US

 46660 Washington St La Quinta, CA 92253
 [email protected]
 760.777.8008

RESTAURANT HOURS

Wednesday & Thursday: 

12:00pm - 8:00pm

Friday: 

12:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday: 

11:30am - 9:00pm

Sunday:

11:30am - 8:00pm

Closed Monday & Tuesday

PARTY AT KIKI'S

Saturday:

9:00pm - 1:00am

Bruce Vogel, CA

 

5-Stars "The bottom line is that within 41 days, with the help and direction of Sheri Dettman and Lisa Blodgett, I sold my house of 20 years, bought a smaller place nearby, got top dollar for the house, a good deal on the smaller place AND had a good time doing it (as opposed to excruciating experiences I’ve had doing this stuff in the past. I interviewed four agents and easily chose Sheri for her friendly, prompt, and professional demeanor as well as her very experienced abilities. I met Lisa through Sheri who turned out to have the same qualities (they call themselves teammates). What I really liked about them both, and perhaps more important, was their calming, sympathetic responsiveness to my enduring nervousness throughout the whole deal. I’m an edgy guy, especially in the face of such a life changing affair. They made it all happen in a fun, step by step and very re-assuring manner, and I was only homeless for five days. No one will ever know if they were THAT good or I just got lucky, but in talking to escrow agents and others they work closely with, it’s evident that they are either really good or lucky on a regular basis. I heartily recommend either one or both of them if you can pull it off. Sincerely, Bruce Vogel "

Olga Hernandez, CA

 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Team Dettman is amazing. We worked exclusively with Lisa, who was thoughtful, thorough, pleasant, fun and knowledgable. She took us everywhere until we found the look and feel we wanted and then she helped us find our ideal spot. It was an intense process over a few weeks and Lisa was always helping and being the guide we needed to finder new home. Her knowledge of the area was vast and current."

Thomas Denison

 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Team Dettman is amazing. We worked exclusively with Lisa, who was thoughtful, thorough, pleasant, fun and knowledgable. She took us everywhere until we found the look and feel we wanted and then she helped us find our ideal spot. It was an intense process over a few weeks and Lisa was always helping and being the guide we needed to finder new home. Her knowledge of the area was vast and current."

The Coachella Valley’s Enduring Love Affair with Dates

Date palm trees with bags hanging off to protect the fruitUnder those bags there's caramel gold. | Courtesy of Visit Greater Palm Springs

The Coachella Valley's Enduring Love Affair with Dates

The desert hotspot is now best known for its music festival, but an obsession with the Middle Eastern fruit has persisted for over a century. There’s even a dates festival in its honor.

TUCKED AWAY ALONG THE EDGE OF A COUNTY FAIR IN INDIO, CALIFORNIA, is a curious building with distinct Middle Eastern flair: white with blue trim, covered in murals, and topped with a bulbous gold Persian dome and pointed arches that court the Southern California breeze. While elsewhere on the grounds neon-lit Ferris wheels spin against the night sky, demolition derbies smash large vehicles and musical acts like Smash Mouth smash eardrums, inside this building are wrinkly and glistening fruit, a virtual embarrassment of chewy caramel riches. Abbadas, Medjoosl, Barhis, Brunettes, you name it. Halawi, Hellali, Honey, sure, those too.

This is the Taj Mahal building, a remnant from when the Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival was a tribute to the Coachella Valley cash crop of dates, and its Middle Eastern origins. Though today the Coachella Valley may be best known for its blowout music festival, in the early 1900s, thanks to some intrepid scientists and the imagination of some truly Disney-level storytellers, it was the destination that dates built.

This iteration of the transportive fair was launched in 1947. On certain nights guests wearing Arabian Nights-style attire got in the fair for free, and the whole grounds resembled a movie set—camel races and all. A Baghdad stage designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver hosted sequined nightly performances of “One Thousand and One Nights.”

a woman in white on a ladder leaning against a date palm tree in the Coachella Valley
Beauty queens also had to have great balance. | University of Southern California / Corbis Historical

The overt appropriation has dwindled, but in its 76th year, the heritage remains in a few architectural elements and the National Date Festival’s Queen Scheherazade Pageant. A part of the fair from its beginnings, the pageant originated as a stepping stone to the glitzy Miss California title. Today it’s morphed into a scholarship fund, where women eschew swimsuits in favor of billowing harem pants, vying for up to $3,500 in prizes.

And the dates remain. Today, the Coachella Valley is still the number one producer of dates in the US, shipping off 90% of the country’s crop. Throughout the valley, date palms dangle fruit in clusters like grapes. And yet, dates aren’t native to the United States, let alone California. So how did the flowering plant come to headline a regionally beloved festival and serve as a magnet for local tourism?

Enter the agricultural explorers.

two people in dated costume clothing sipping a date shake while a camel looks on
The 1958 version of sharing a date shake. | University of Southern California / Corbis Historical

Traveling the world, one tree at a time

A little over a century ago, American cuisine was heavy on meat, cheese, and potatoes. The country’s agricultural yields had little in the way of fruits and vegetables, and many were seeking some palette diversity (not to mention fiber). In an effort to diversify American crops and diets, in 1898 the USDA formed an elite task force of plant scientists. These “agricultural explorers” would trek around the world Indiana Jones-style, culling plants and bringing them back home to the States. They introduced tens of thousands of foods we still eat today, including: mangoes, avocados, horseradish, kale, nectarines, papaya, pistachios, and, of course, the date palm, native of the Middle East and North Africa.

The program came on the heels of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, where Greater Los Angeles was coincidentally introduced as a place of fertility, abundance, and all things tropical. A couple decades earlier, the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks throughout the desert as a result of westward expansion, but the discovery of nutrient-rich soil and a massive desert aquifer stretching from the San Jacinto Mountains to the Salton Sea lead to another gold rush of sorts for parcels of the region’s farmland.

The USDA’s agricultural explorers noted that the soil conditions in Algeria, its neighbors, and the Arabian Peninsula were similar to that of the Coachella Valley, which some referred to as the American Sahara. And there, the date palm, one of the oldest domesticated crops, were abundant. Plus, the palm’s fruit was desirable—sweet, delicious, and rich in vitamins and minerals helpful for relieving common ailments like constipation. The quest to import date palms to the States began romantically: A botanist named David Fairchild went to Baghdad to investigate the species, in part because he remembered its role in A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. His fellow USDA scientist Walter Swingle followed, lugging a clutch of large, unwieldy, 60-pound tree offshoots back to the Coachella Valley (they had to be offshoots, as seeds could create anomalies in the DNA). Once planted, the trees thrived.

a hand holding some ripe yellow dates
One for you, the rest for me. | Courtesy of Aziz Farms

Curving through the Palm Desert, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and eventually Highway 111, allowed tourists to travel to foreign lands without leaving the country. At the turn of the century, the acres of date palm farms provided an escape to what at the time was viewed as exotic—an admittedly problematic perspective popular culture was all too happy to support.

Fueling it was an Americans obsession with a romanticized idea of the Middle East, as studios pumped out movies like Cleopatra, The Queen of Sheba, and The Sheik, starring a very un-Middle Eastern Rudolph Valentino. Not only were films affected by the craze, but architecture, fashion, art, and agriculture. Landscapes were fashioned accordingly: The towns of Coachella Valley went all in, designing attractions to mirror Hollywood sets and opening date shops shaped like pyramids and Bedouin tents. The town of Walters changed its name to Mecca in 1904, while elsewhere, there were name makeovers like Cairo Avenue, still in use today. There were even (thankfully abandoned) plans to create an entire town called Arabia, with architecture reminiscent of the Sahara and a shopping complex where customers would arrive on camels.

And in 1921—the same year as The Sheik’s big screen debut—the town of Indio launched the International Festival of Dates to a backdrop of masquerading harem girls, camel races, and elaborate Arabian costumes. All “The Wise Men” were going, said the promotional pamphlets.

Sometime after the second World War, the Date Festival merged with the Riverside County Fair. And as geopolitics and America’s perceptions of the Middle East shifted in the subsequent decades, the societal obsession with Middle Eastern stereotypes dwindled. The dates, it seemed, were the era’s few survivors.

a colorful metal shed painted with images of pyramids
The Packhouse at Aziz Farms | Courtesy of Visit Greater Palm Springs

Saving the Coachella date—a survival story

Stop by the farmers market in Indio on a typical Saturday and you might run into Tadros Tadros—“A man so nice you gotta say it twice,” says his son Mark—manning the Aziz Farms booth. Born in Egypt and armed with a degree in agriculture and horticulture from the University of Cairo, Tadros moved to the States in the 1960s in search of new opportunities. He was a beekeeper for a time, as well as an exceptional tennis player, and took a job as a tennis pro in the Coachella Valley. It was there that he first spotted California-grown Yellow Barhi dates.

“He was familiar with the more exotic [date] varieties like the Barhi,” says Mark. “But most growers were letting it cure to a brown state as opposed to selling it when it was still crunchy and yellow like an apple.” Seeing an opening, Tadros procured some Yellow Barhi, drove to Los Angeles, and sold them out of the trunk of his car to Egyptian expats. He eventually saved up enough money to buy some land and start his own operation. Today, Aziz Farms ships primarily within the United States.

Detroit's really big for us,” says Mark. “Medjool dates are big there for folks like us, because we're kind of a small to mid-sized producer and will deal with a lot of the marketplaces where you'll see larger ethnic populations.”

“I've had friends that to this day think I’m a coconut farmer and I’m lying to them about what I grow on our trees.”

A few years ago, Mark took over the business, and had to reckon with the declining state of the industry. In Mark’s words, farms are a dying breed. But he has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep the farm alive, including diversifying his crops, planting vegetables and partnering with restaurants to meet their supply needs.

He’s also started hosting adult field trips. Based on the same curriculum as the school kids’ program, the grown-up offerings are geared towards spreading the word about proper growing practices and the financial impacts of agritourism.“If you look at some of our ethnic customer base, they're what I consider date experts, date aficionados: They understand dates at their core, they eat them differently, they use them differently, they cherish them differently, and they understand very specifically where these things come from,” Mark says. “But I don't think that the average American really understands the impact of the Coachella Valley. I've had friends that to this day think I’m a coconut farmer and I’m lying to them about what I grow on our trees.”

a giant roadside knight pointing at a shed
Let the knight point your way. | Courtesy of Visit Greater Palm Springs

The perfect date: How to tour date farms in Coachella Valley

For those interested in learning more about the date’s renaissance in California, the Date Museum inside the Coachella Valley History Museum pays homage to the region’s agricultural transformation. But while you’re in the area, thick creamy date shakes are a must. Some would say it’s the unofficial drink of Palm Springs. And you’ll find an abundance of options. Stop by farms like Hadley’s Fruit Orchards, or even get a version at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club. But for the full date experience, take your date to Shield’s Date Garden. One of the oldest date farms in the country, just look for the kitschy gigantic knight armed with shield and sword, pointing to the showroom.

First opened on Christmas Day in 1924 by mining engineer Floyd Shields and his teacher wife Bess, two lovebirds looking to capitalize on the burgeoning date industry, romance was a part of the formula from the beginning. Tasked with deciding how to market his business, Shields looked at the Arabian Nights themes elsewhere and decided he would focus on matters of the heart—and the libido. Specifically, with a slideshow called the Romance & Sex Life of the Date. Today, you can screen the presentation in the shop’s Romance Room (or just stream it on the website).

The subject matter is more about the propagating fruit and the intricacies of date farming, but the insinuation is more than enough to draw curious passersby inside Shields’ agricultural castle. So while the National Date Festival’s date focus has admittedly dwindled over the years, swapping the centerpiece fruit for rides, livestock shows, and Smash Mouth, there’s still much to see. Try doubling up your next Southern California getaway—or your trip to Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival—with a stop at the fruit-forward gem. Get the date shake, and if you’ve brought a date yourself, consider opting for two straws.

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Vanita Salisbury is Thrillist's Senior Travel Writer.

Proposition 13 & 19 – Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families, and Victims of Wildfire & Natural Disasters Initiative

California Proposition 13, passed by California voters in 1978, was a groundbreaking law that helped to keep property taxes under control for homeowners. The property tax caps offered by Proposition 13 affect everyone who owns real estate in California. Proposition 19 marked a significant change to Proposition 13, changing tax benefits for families, seniors, severely disabled persons, and victims of natural disasters in California.

Proposition 19 amends the California Constitution by expanding qualifications for the transfer of a property's taxable value. These changes may affect your next escrow and title transaction if eligibility requirements are met. Additional documents may be required by escrow if you plan to transfer the current taxable value of the property.

How does Proposition 19 affect property tax base transfers:

Starting April 1, 2020, Proposition 19 allows an owner of a primary residence who is over 55 years of age, severely disabled, or a victim of a wildfire or natural disaster to transfer the taxable value of the primary residence to a replacement primary residence:

  • anywhere in California;
  • purchased or newly constructed within 2 years;
  • of any value with an upward adjustment for a more expensive replacement; and
  • the property tax base can be transferred up to three times for persons over 55 years old or with severe disabilities and once for wildfire or disaster victims.

How does Proposition 19 affect inherited properties?

Starting February 16, 2021, Proposition 19 narrows the rules for parent-to-child or grandparent-to-grandchild exemption for inherited properties. The child or grandchild can transfer the taxable value of the inherited property if:

  • the property is the principal residence of the child or grandchild or is the family farm;
  • the homeowner's or disabled veteran's exemption is claimed within one year of the transfer to the child or grandchild; the property is used as the principal residence and has a market value above $1 million, in this case an upward adjustment in assessed value would occur.
Source: https://www.boe.ca.gov/prop19/ and https://assessor.lacounty.gov/about-prop-19/

Contact Sheri Dettman & Associates for more information on Proposition 19

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