Coral Mountain Desert Club La Quinta: Development Tracker
A source-backed guide to the current golf-centered plan, former surf resort, approved homes, off-site Thermal surf access, construction milestones, and unresolved buyer costs.
Last Updated: August 5, 2026 | Time To Read: 16 minutes | Author: Mark Miller | Category: Real Estate
Current status: Initial site and club work is described as underway; vertical home construction has not been publicly verified
Latest milestone: Final Tract Map 39058-1 received unanimous conditional City Council approval on August 4, 2026
Coral Mountain Desert Club is a private residential and golf community under development in south La Quinta. It is not the same plan as the on-site surf resort denied in 2022. The current La Quinta project is centered on homes, a private David McLay Kidd golf course, club amenities, and planned member access to a separate proposed surf lagoon at Thermal Beach Club.
Key takeaways
The current project is not the denied surf resort. The large on-site Kelly Slater wave basin and hotel are no longer part of the La Quinta plan. Coral Mountain is now a private residential and golf club.
Implementation is active, but the stages are easy to overstate. The developer says initial-phase construction is underway, utility plans are active in review, and a final-map phase received conditional approval. Public records reviewed do not establish vertical construction of the 91 approved homes.
Five different residential counts describe five different things. The 750-unit entitlement ceiling, approximately 300-home developer program, 204-lot tentative map, 91 approved home designs, and 85-lot final-map phase are not interchangeable.
A home purchase does not include club membership. Membership is invitation-only and requires a separate application and fees. Public membership pricing and operating terms have not been released.
The 2028 date is a target, not a guarantee. Meriwether currently targets 2028 for the first club amenities, golf course, and Thermal wave basin. Construction of the separate Thermal basin has not been publicly verified.
Current status
| Field | Verified status as of August 5, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Public-facing name | Coral Mountain Desert Club |
| Developer | Meriwether Companies |
| Location | Southwest corner of Avenue 58 and Madison Street in south La Quinta |
| Approximate size | 384 acres in City and developer records; rounded to 400 acres in marketing |
| Overall stage | Initial site and club phase described as underway; active utility-plan review |
| Latest City action | Final Map 39058-1 unanimously conditionally approved August 4, 2026 |
| Latest map phase | 85 residential lots on 291 acres, plus commercial, condominium, amenity, golf, open-space, and private-street lots |
| Map recordation | Not verified |
| Phase 1 homes | 91 single-family home designs approved May 12, 2026 |
| Vertical home construction | Not publicly verified |
| Sales | Interest registration active; official website says the sales office is opening soon |
| Official home pricing | Not public |
| Membership | Invitation-only; separate from home purchase |
| Golf | Planned private 18-hole David McLay Kidd course; part of the initial phase |
| Surf | Planned member access at the separate Thermal Beach Club site |
| Thermal basin construction | Not publicly verified |
| Current target | First amenities, golf course, and wave basin slated for 2028 |
Table of contents
The August 4 action is important but narrow. The City agenda packet, revised handout, and meeting archive show that the council conditionally approved Final Tract Map 39058-1 and related subdivision-improvement agreements. The conditions include final signatures, required securities, payment of a Quimby fee, and a blanket public-trail easement along the western boundary that must be recorded with the map.
Conditional approval is not the same as recordation. It also does not establish that home, clubhouse, or other vertical building permits have been issued.
The City’s meeting-video metadata identifies the action as Resolution 2026-026, but the executed resolution was not indexed as of August 5. Staff and the meeting discussion describe a 60-day compliance window; the published draft contains conflicting October 4 and October 19 dates. No exact October deadline should be treated as controlling until the executed text is available.
The five residential numbers explained
750: maximum entitlement
The City’s 2024 approval allows up to 750 residential units, an 18-hole golf course, and up to 60,000 square feet of retail. The 750 figure is the maximum legal land-use envelope, not the number of homes currently being marketed or built.
Approximately 300: current developer program
The Meriwether portfolio describes a private community with approximately 300 homesites. This is the best available description of the developer’s current market program, but the mix and product names may change before sales begin.
204: tentative-map single-family lots
Tentative Tract Map 39058 subdivides the broader west tract into 204 single-family lots, three future condominium parcels totaling about 29.1 acres, and supporting golf, street, open-space, utility, and drainage parcels. The map does not establish how many condominium units may eventually occupy the three future parcels.
91: approved Phase 1 home designs
Planning Commission Resolution 2026-006 approves 91 Phase 1 single-family homes. The approval includes five model types with two elevations each, approximately 3,281 to 6,521 square feet, in Desert Modern and California Classic styles.
85: the latest final-map phase
Final Tract Map 39058-1 creates 85 residential lots within a 291-acre phase, plus one commercial lot, one condominium lot, one amenity lot, and supporting golf, open-space, and private-street lots. The City Council conditionally approved this map on August 4.
The public records reviewed do not explain exactly how the 85 residential lots correspond to the 91 approved home plans. The two figures describe different approvals and should remain separate until the City or developer confirms the relationship.
| Number | Scope | Best plain-language meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 750 | Entitlement | Maximum residences legally allowed |
| ~300 | Developer marketing | Current approximate homesite program |
| 204 | Tentative tract map | Single-family lots in the broader subdivision plan |
| 91 | Site-development permit | Approved Phase 1 home designs and sites |
| 85 | Final-map phase | Residential lots in conditionally approved FTM 39058-1 |
What is Coral Mountain Desert Club?
Coral Mountain Desert Club is a roughly 384- to 400-acre planned private community west of Madison Street and south of Avenue 58. The current concept combines residences, a private golf course, a clubhouse and wellness program, racquet sports, pools, trails, lakes or water features, and a future commercial corner.
The official project website currently lists custom home sites, estate homesites, and Club Cottages. Meriwether’s portfolio uses different terms—Villas, Golf Cottages, and custom homes—while describing approximately 300 homesites. Until a formal product release, those labels should be attributed to their respective sources rather than treated as a final collection map.
The City continues to use planning names including Coral Mountain Club, Club at Coral Mountain, and, in some documents, Coral Mountain Resort. Those administrative names do not mean the denied resort plan has returned.
What changed from the former Coral Mountain Resort?
The 2019–2022 Coral Mountain Resort proposal was a destination surf resort built around a large on-site Kelly Slater Wave Company basin. It included up to 600 dwellings, a hotel of up to 150 rooms, tourist-commercial uses, neighborhood commercial uses, and a large recreation program.
The La Quinta City Council unanimously denied that proposal on September 21, 2022. The record reflects a broad land-use debate involving neighborhood compatibility, location, water and drought conditions, lighting, noise, traffic, visitor intensity, short-term rentals, building heights, infrastructure, and the balance between public benefits and impacts. The decision should not be reduced to a single water-use issue.
The current plan is a material redesign, not a cosmetic rebrand.
| Category | Former 2019–2022 resort | Current Coral Mountain Desert Club |
|---|---|---|
| Core identity | Destination surf resort and residential development | Private residential and golf club |
| Surf basin in La Quinta | Large on-site basin | None in the current La Quinta plan |
| Surf technology | Kelly Slater Wave Company | Endless Surf proposed at the separate Thermal Beach Club |
| Surf location | Coral Mountain property | Approximately 8–10 minutes away in Thermal |
| Hotel | Up to 150 rooms | No hotel in the current approved plan |
| Residential scale | Up to 600 units | Up to 750 entitled; approximately 300 in the current developer program |
| Golf | Not the central use | Private 18-hole course is the La Quinta anchor |
| Commercial | Tourist and neighborhood commercial | Up to 60,000 square feet of retail |
| Political outcome | Unanimously denied in 2022 | Reworked plan approved beginning in 2024 |
Old renderings remain online and can easily be mistaken for current plans. Any image showing the former on-site basin should be labeled historical denied concept, 2019–2022.
Where is Coral Mountain?
The Coral Mountain site occupies the southwest corner of Avenue 58 and Madison Street in south La Quinta. It sits west of Madison Street, near established golf and residential communities and adjacent public desert lands.
Thermal Beach Club is a separate project in unincorporated Thermal. Meriwether describes the drive as approximately eight minutes; the January 2026 announcement says less than ten minutes. The two sites have different jurisdictions, approvals, construction records, and delivery risks.
That distinction matters: Coral Mountain can advance while the Thermal wave basin remains delayed or unbuilt.
What is approved today?
2024 land-use envelope
The 2024 CEQA Notice of Determination describes the approved alternative as including:
Up to 750 residential units
An 18-hole golf course on approximately 187.5 acres
Up to 60,000 square feet of retail on an approximately 7.7-acre commercial corner
The City certified an Environmental Impact Report, adopted mitigation measures and a monitoring program, and adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations. This was not a finding of “no significant impacts.” The City approved the project after determining that stated benefits outweighed certain significant and unavoidable effects.
2025 implementation approvals
In October 2025, the Planning Commission approved the 204-lot tentative tract map, the golf-course and perimeter-landscape site plan, and a sales center. A resident appealed. On December 16, 2025, the City Council unanimously upheld the approvals through Resolution 2025-030.
The approved sales-center plan did not include model homes at that time.
2026 Phase 1 homes and final map
On May 12, the Planning Commission approved the 91 Phase 1 home designs. On August 4, the City Council conditionally approved Final Map 39058-1, covering 85 residential lots and the major supporting parcels in that map phase.
The final-map condition added at the meeting requires a blanket easement to the Desert Recreation District for a public trail along the western project boundary. The easement is to be recorded concurrently with the final map.
Utility review
The Coachella Valley Water District plan-check list shows active implementation work:
The sales-center water improvement plan is signed, with release pending other developer items.
Off-site water and sewer plans were received July 7.
An irrigation-meter delivery plan was received July 8.
Phase 1 on-site water and sewer plans were received July 13.
Phase 2 and Phase 3 on-site water and sewer plans were received July 14.
TM 39058-2 water and sewer plans were received July 17.
Plan check is evidence of active design and agency review. It is not evidence that utility construction is complete or that home-building permits have been issued.
Homes and homesites
Current product descriptions
The official Coral Mountain website advertises custom home sites, estate homesites, and Club Cottages. Meriwether describes Villas, Golf Cottages, and custom homes. Final collection names, counts, builders, and release sequence are not yet public.
Phase 1 homes
The approved first residential phase includes:
91 single-family homes
Five model types
Two elevations per model
Approximately 3,281 to 6,521 square feet
Desert Modern and California Classic architecture
Individual lot landscaping
The approval establishes a design framework. It does not establish public prices, final floor-plan names, bedroom counts, release dates, or issued permits for every home.
What remains unknown
No current official source reviewed provides:
Base prices or lot premiums
Reservation, deposit, or release procedures
Final floor-plan names and specifications
Merchant or custom-builder roster
HOA and sub-association dues
Club initiation fee or annual dues
Food-and-beverage minimums or capital charges
Special tax, CFD, or assessment details
Transfer fees or membership-transfer rules
Broker-cooperation and buyer-agent registration policy
Product-specific rental rules
A secondary club-industry article has circulated a home-price range, but it has not been confirmed through current developer pricing and should not replace the official “pricing not released” status.
Club membership
The official Coral Mountain disclaimer makes the ownership and membership relationship unusually clear:
Membership is by invitation only.
A home purchase does not grant access to the club.
A separate application and separate fees are required.
Membership availability and club operations are not guaranteed.
Proposed amenities and plans remain subject to change or cancellation.
This separation is a core buyer-cost issue. A home could carry HOA obligations without providing club access, while club membership could add initiation, dues, minimums, usage charges, or other terms that are not yet public.
Questions still requiring written answers include membership categories, capacity, approval standards, allocation to homesites, nonresident access, transferability, guest rights, family privileges, food-and-beverage minimums, capital assessments, and access to the Thermal surf facility.
Golf and club amenities
Meriwether’s April 9, 2026 announcement says initial-phase construction is underway and includes:
A private 18-hole David McLay Kidd golf course
A driving range
Two elevated comfort stations
Initial club infrastructure and amenities
The course is planned as David McLay Kidd’s first original Coachella Valley design and first California-desert course. Final routing, par, yardage, grassing schedule, walking and caddie policies, member capacity, guest rules, and opening sequence are not public in controlling project documents reviewed for this tracker.
The announced Hart Howerton clubhouse and recreation program includes private dining, lounges, food and beverage, massage rooms, steam, sauna, cold plunge, hot tubs, fitness and recovery spaces, and an outfitter hub. Other announced amenities include four padel courts, eight pickleball courts, three tennis courts, pools, a pump track, a recreational lake, family programming, and trails.
All remain planned amenities subject to permitting, phasing, and change.
Thermal Beach Club surf access
The current Coral Mountain plan has no wave basin on the La Quinta property. In January 2026, Meriwether announced planned member access to a separate Endless Surf lagoon at Thermal Beach Club.
48 chambers versus 60 caissons
The 2026 Meriwether announcement describes a 48-chamber pneumatic lagoon. The still-live 2023 Endless Surf announcement describes a 3.8-acre ES60 pool with 60 wave-generating caissons within a larger lake.
The latest developer-announced configuration is 48 chambers, but the final engineered and permit-approved design has not been publicly verified. The two descriptions should not be silently combined.
Construction and schedule risk
Riverside County approved the Thermal Beach Club land-use project in 2020. That approval does not prove a 2026 financing close, issued construction permit, or active lagoon construction. No primary source reviewed confirms that the wave basin has broken ground.
Meriwether currently says the first Coral Mountain amenities, golf course, and wave basin are slated for 2028. The date is a target. Earlier Thermal publicity projected milestones that did not occur, making permit, financing, and field verification important before describing an opening as certain.
Access remains undefined
The announced relationship is planned access for club members, not a deeded homeowner amenity. Public sources do not explain:
Whether every Coral Mountain membership includes surf access
Session fees or reservation priority
Peak-time allocation between the two clubs
Guest and family privileges
Lessons and equipment
Transportation between La Quinta and Thermal
Remedies if the Thermal facility is delayed or never opens
Whether access transfers when a home is sold
Commercial, trails, environment, and infrastructure
Commercial corner
The approved plan allows up to 60,000 square feet of retail at Avenue 58 and Madison Street. No tenants, restaurant concepts, final site plan, construction schedule, or commitment to build the full allowance have been publicly verified. It is an approved future land-use opportunity, not an announced shopping center.
Trails and public access
Project marketing describes a trail network connecting members to adjacent public land. City approvals also address public multi-use trails along portions of Madison Street, Avenue 58, Avenue 60, and the western or southwestern boundary.
Private internal trails, public perimeter paths, and access to public land are different categories. The August 4 trail-easement condition adds an important public component but does not establish unrestricted access through the gated community. Final alignment, access points, gates, fencing, and maintenance responsibility remain to be documented.
Environmental review
The City’s environmental approval identified significant unavoidable effects involving subjects including aesthetics, air quality, greenhouse-gas emissions, and transportation or vehicle miles traveled. Mitigation and monitoring requirements also address biological and cultural resources.
Project conditions include Peninsular bighorn sheep fencing and preservation requirements for a sensitive adobe cultural site. Exact sensitive-resource locations should not be amplified beyond appropriate public disclosures.
Water, sewer, power, and roads
The current planning framework depicts an activity lake of approximately 10 acres and an irrigation lake of approximately 2 acres, while current developer marketing refers more generally to a recreational lake. Final sizes, water sources, phasing, uses, treatment, and evaporation have not been reconfirmed publicly.
Road and infrastructure conditions address Madison Street, Avenue 58, Avenue 60, Calle Conchita, private interior roads, entry stacking, emergency access, trails, and future traffic signals. Electrical capacity has also been tied to the regional Avenue 58 substation discussion. These dependencies belong in the construction tracker because land-use approval alone does not deliver utility capacity or off-site improvements.
Short-term rentals
The specific plan contains language contemplating short- and long-term rentals, while La Quinta’s broader municipal code restricts new short-term-rental permits outside defined exceptions. The operative result for Coral Mountain depends on the development agreement, current City interpretation, recorded CC&Rs, club rules, product type, and any cap or minimum-stay requirement.
The current answer is neither “750 short-term rentals are allowed” nor “all rentals are prohibited.” Product-specific rights remain unresolved.
Development timeline
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| February 17, 2021 | Environmental review begins for the former on-site surf resort | Former plan |
| September 21, 2022 | City Council unanimously denies the former resort applications | Denied |
| November 2023 | Reworked golf, residential, commercial, and recreation specific-plan amendment prepared | Superseding plan |
| March 5, 2024 | City certifies the EIR for the current alternative and approves the specific-plan amendment | Approved |
| March 19, 2024 | Related current entitlement approvals completed | Approved |
| October 28, 2025 | Planning Commission approves the tentative map, golf course, and sales center | Approved |
| December 16, 2025 | City Council unanimously upholds approvals after an appeal | Approved |
| January 13, 2026 | Meriwether announces the planned Thermal surf-access arrangement | Announced |
| March 3, 2026 | CVWD receives the sales-center water improvement plan | Submitted for review |
| April 9, 2026 | Meriwether announces the launch, groundbreaking, and initial-phase construction | Site work underway |
| May 12, 2026 | Planning Commission approves 91 Phase 1 home designs | Approved |
| July 7–17, 2026 | Additional Coral Mountain water and sewer plans enter CVWD review | Submitted for review |
| August 4, 2026 | Council conditionally approves Final Map 39058-1 with a trail-easement condition | Conditionally approved |
| 2028 | First amenities, golf course, and wave basin targeted | Announced target |
Buyer due diligence
| Subject | What is known | What remains unknown | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | No official prices released | Base prices, premiums, options, and deposits | Acquisition budget |
| Product | Several homesite, cottage, and villa terms marketed | Final collections, counts, builders, and plans | Fit and representation |
| Phase 1 | 91 designs approved; 3,281–6,521 square feet | Permit status, release sequence, and delivery timing | Availability |
| HOA | Master-community obligations are anticipated | Dues, reserves, sub-associations, and transfer fees | Carrying cost |
| Club | Invitation-only; separate from home ownership | Initiation, dues, categories, cap, and transfer rules | Lifestyle and cost |
| Golf | Private David McLay Kidd course planned | Opening sequence, member capacity, and policies | Core amenity value |
| Surf | Thermal access announced | Construction, fees, reservations, and remedies | Separate-project risk |
| Taxes | Ordinary property taxes will apply | CFD, special taxes, assessments, and bonds | Carrying cost |
| Rentals | Planning documents contemplate rentals | Permit rights, caps, CC&Rs, and product rules | Use and resale |
| Construction | Initial phase and utility review are active | Home starts, clubhouse permit, and disruption period | Occupancy experience |
| Trail access | Public trail easement required on the western boundary | Final route, gates, maintenance, and recordation | Public/private interface |
| Resale | No mature project resale market | Membership transfer and brokerage rules | Future liquidity |
FAQ
Is Coral Mountain under construction?
Meriwether says initial-phase construction is underway, and multiple utility plans are in review. This supports describing initial site and club work as underway, but not claiming that the homes, clubhouse, and separate Thermal surf basin are all under construction.
Is the old Coral Mountain wave pool still planned?
No. The on-site Kelly Slater Wave Company basin belonged to the resort plan denied in 2022. The current La Quinta plan has no surf basin. Members are instead expected to receive access to a planned lagoon at the separately developed Thermal Beach Club.
How many homes are planned at Coral Mountain?
The figures represent different planning layers: up to 750 units are entitled, the developer describes approximately 300 homesites, the tentative map includes 204 single-family lots plus condominium parcels, 91 Phase 1 home designs are approved, and Final Map 39058-1 contains 85 residential lots. None of these figures represents current sales inventory.
When will homes go on sale, and how much will they cost?
The official website says the sales office is opening soon and accepts interest registrations. No opening date, release schedule, or official pricing has been announced.
Does buying a home include club membership?
No. Purchasing a home does not automatically provide club access. Membership is invitation-only and requires a separate application and separate fees, which have not been publicly released.
Update log
| Date | Update |
| August 5, 2026 | Verified the August 4 unanimous conditional approval of Final Map 39058-1, added the 85-lot phase, documented the western trail-easement condition, preserved the unresolved final-map deadline conflict, and updated the sales-center water plan to signed/release pending developer items. |
Mark Miller | Real Estate Agent
I specialize in residential real estate throughout California’s Coachella Valley, with deep experience in lifestyle-driven, master-planned, and resort communities. I study local neighborhoods, builders, market activity, and long-term value to help buyers, sellers, and renters make informed decisions.
I am the sole owner and creator of Desert Oasis Insider and Bloom – Home Search Engine, two proprietary platforms built to explain Coachella Valley real estate with greater depth and clarity than generic real estate portals. I combine hyper-local research, market data, professional media, and firsthand community coverage to explain both the homes and the lifestyle behind each location.
With more than a decade of experience in communities such as Trilogy La Quinta and Trilogy at The Polo Club, my approach is precise, story-driven, data-informed, and focused on helping clients make confident decisions.
442-234-3325 | MarkMillerCA@gmail.com
