Desert Island

Quorum Article - August 2005

Desert Island is a 226-unit gated condominium community located on a 25-acre island in Rancho Mirage. The island is surrounded by a lake, which in turn is surrounded by a 110-acre, 18-hole championship golf course.  Desert Island is located at the corner of Frank Sinatra & Bob Hope Drives; within a half-mile of Eisenhower Medical Center, and handy for the downtown attractions of Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert.

The developer was Winmar of the Desert, a division of Safeco Properties (part of Safeco Corp.) and the project was built out during the period 1972 – 1979. The condo units were originally all on leased land owned by the developer. However, all but 30 condo owners have now purchased the fee interest. The Desert Island Golf & Country Club is owned independently by its membership, not the homeowners.

The condo units are contained in three high-rise buildings.  Two of the buildings are 7 stories tall with 80 and 82 units respectively. The third building is 5 stories tall with 64 units. Most of the units are around 2,000 square feet in size with fairly large balconies. There are a few units that range in size from 3,000 to 4,000 square feet.  The buildings are constructed of concrete and steel over basement car parking; and each has a pool and a hot tub.

Additionally, there are two tennis courts for homeowners and guests and a yacht club with a fleet of pedal boats.  Residents who so choose may join the yacht club for $50 a year. Members hold a private cocktail party every year at the yacht club gazebo and put on a regatta and lakeside picnic with a children’s fishing derby every year for all residents. The regatta features boat races and horseshoe and bocce ball competitions.

There are several acres of open space (green belt) on the island where additional buildings were to have been built, but never were.  Dogs are permitted to run free (off the leash) in this area as long as the pet’s owner is in control.

A special side benefit of the island environment is enhanced security. The buildings are monitored by video surveillance and security is such that the community can boast of zero break-ins in all the years of its existence.

The condo units currently sell in the $300,000 to $1.5M price range. The market is good and units generally sell quickly. The proportion of full time to part time residents is approximately 70% part time, 30% full time

Association dues are $690-697 per month. This includes all typical property maintenance & housekeeping, equipment maintenance, reserves, management, and security.  Also included are cable television with 2 premium channels, and all water and gas.  Air conditioning is also included in whole or in part.  The equipment maintained includes elevators, central plant air conditioning systems, fire safety systems, video surveillance systems, pools, gates, and a lake water pump station.  There are computer systems that operate the building air conditioning systems as well as other property equipment.

Desert Island is unique to the Coachella Valley in several respects. As the only high rise condo community, it does not compete directly with the myriad single story developments and is particularly attractive to owners used to high rise living in cities like New York and Chicago.

Additionally, the engineering configuration of the buildings, particularly the central air-conditioning plant, places a very high priority on building maintenance. Accordingly, the community has a dedicated maintenance department, provided by the management company, that not only provides maintenance and housekeeping to the common areas of the property, but also provides services to the individual owners as well.  Residents who choose to make use of the services available pay for them individually.

The maintenance department tracks utility usage closely.  It also works with Southern California Edison on energy management offers and rebates.  A few years ago the air conditioning systems were changed out and upgraded to make them more energy efficient.  Interior lighting was upgraded as well to more energy efficient fixtures.

During the summer of 2005 two of the buildings are being completely repainted on the outside and the basement.  Each building is expected to cost about $230,000. Vista Paint provided the specifications and material and Springs Painting provided the crew to get the job done.  As the project progressed, General Manager Steven Shuey commented that he was amazed at the quality and workmanship and the care and dedication of the crews.

As a mature community Desert Island is dealing with the usual landscape challenges posed by overgrown shrubs and trees reaching the end of their useful lives. The challenge is being met steadily and gradually with shrub and tree replacement as the need arises.

Desert Island is also working towards a rearrangement of its basic organization. The community was originally set up as 4 associations (3 HOAs and a Master under one set of CC&Rs). They are working to update the governing documents to consolidate the four associations into one.  The community currently has 22 board members on 4 boards governing the 226 units.  After consolidation, should it come to pass, there will likely be one 9-member board made up of 3 members from each building.  The financial system will remain complex, but the overall administration will be simplified with the consolidation.

The Architectural Committee is the most active committee at present.  They get involved in any exterior changes to a unit.  With the buildings being 30+ years old, remodeling and refurbishing of units is ongoing every summer.  Major remodeling is not permitted between November and May due to noise transmission inherent in high-rise buildings.

The management company is Team Property Management, Inc, which manages Desert Island exclusively and is headed up by Steven Shuey. Says Steven,  “Desert Island is different because they have had consistency beyond most other associations in having a manager who has been with the community for 30 years (13 of them as General Manager).  Consistency in management makes for a compatible community that gets along – all the board members get along and all the homeowners get along, or at least do not make a fuss if they do not.”

All this reinforces the opinion of one board member that Desert Island is one of the best-kept secrets in the desert.

The Desert Island boards and management are assisted by, among others, US Bank, Kirkpatrick Landscaping, attorney Wayne Guralnick of Guralnick & Gilliland, Securitas, and Time Warner.