How A California Golf Course Became An ‘Agrihood’

Land that was meant to be an 18-hole golf course in the California desert is taking a different direction. According to KTLA, the land is turning into a neighborhood of 1,150 homes. Marketed as an "agrihood," the Miralon project is located at the edge of Palm Springs and includes amenities like a coffee shop, gym, yoga studios, bocce courts, a spa, and a full-service bar.

KTLA explains that the "agrihood" designation comes from the 70 acres of old golf greens that are being transformed into a working olive grove. It will be harvested and turned into olive oil. Additionally, the old golf cart paths have been converted into hiking trails that go through scenic olive groves and the desert landscape.

One of the new construction homes in the neighborhood costs between $700,000 to $1.2 million, according to Brad Shuckhart, who is the head of the development and construction of the project. There is a mix of single-family homes and condos.

While the land was initially planned to be a golf course with surrounding homes back in 2003, the financial crash of 2008 made it shift course. “It was go-go times and then 2007, 2008 just basically stopped everything, including this development,” Shuckhart told KTLA. “When we bought the site, all of the landscaping had fallen into a state of disrepair. The infrastructure that had been previously installed needed to be significantly reworked or repaired, just because the passage of time and vandalism and things like that.”

So far, about 100 homes have been built and 70 to 80 of them are occupied. Shuckhart said it will be another six or seven years before the last home is sold.