Entertainment and media giant Disney has announced plans to start building mixed-use residential communities in the USA.
The Walt Disney Company revealed plans for its first Storyliving residential development in California’s Coachella Valley, where the brand’s late founder Walt Disney owned a home.
Named Cotino, the residential complex will include 1,900 housing units, which will be designed in a resort-like, small-town style that will take cues from Disney’s famed theme parks.
According to the company, Cotino’s homes will vary from standalone family homes to estates and condominiums and will be arranged around a 24-acre central lake described as a “grand oasis”.
As well as providing expansive residential areas, Cotino will have a town centre with a range of shopping, dining and other entertainment experiences.
All the facilities will be staffed by Disney cast members – the theatrical term for Disney theme park employees that was originally coined by Walt Disney.
Experiences at Cotino will include programmes centred on wellness, cookery, educational seminars and various live performances.
A professionally-managed beach park attached to the lake will provide recreational water activities to the public through the purchase of a day pass, while there is also plans to build a beachfront hotel.
The project will be developed by Arizona-based DMB Development in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative arm of The Walt Disney Company that is responsible for the construction of its theme parks worldwide.
Disney described Storyliving as “vibrant new neighbourhoods that [will be] infused with the company’s special brand of magic.”
Cotino is named after continus coggygria, the name for the European smoke tree plant that references Smoke Tree Ranch, where Walt Disney had a house in nearby Palm Springs.
While most of the development will be open to homeowners of all ages, it will feature a section reserved specifically for residents over the age of 55.
Disney is also develeoping a number of other Storyliving developments in other parts of the US. Spanning entertainment, theme parks and other consumer products, The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Burbank, California.
Architecture studio SOM recently designed the company’s New York City base. Interior designer Kelly Hoppen previously reimagined Disney’s iconic Mickey Mouse character in black, taupe and gold for a “grown-up” audience.
The renderings and video are courtesy of Disney.
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