Indian Wells, CA
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort is operating at a loss and is unlikely to recover its profits even after the Players Course renovations. |
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort continues to perform well, with the Players Course renovation progressing on schedule and within budget. The Golf Resort is projected to remain profitable for the third consecutive year, reflecting strong performance across all areas of operation. |
The Indian Wells Golf Resort continues to perform well, with the Players Course renovation progressing on schedule and within budget. The Golf Resort is projected to remain profitable for the third consecutive year, reflecting strong performance across all areas of operation.
Looking ahead, the Golf Resort anticipates that the enhanced functionality and appeal of the renovated Players Course will drive increased revenue over time, helping to offset any temporary losses incurred during the closure. The Golf Resort is still expected to generate nearly $720,000 in profit.
| The Indian Wells Resident Benefit Card offers minimal value, with few meaningful perks or incentives for residents. | |
The Indian Wells Resident Benefit Card offers a wide variety of benefits and discounts for residents of Indian Wells. These benefits include discounts at:
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The full list of Resort Spa and Restaurant Benefits is available at the City’s Resort Spa & Restaurant Benefits page. For even more resident-exclusive benefits, visit the City’s Resident Benefits page.
| Customers are not dining at Kestrel: A Richard Blais Kitchen + Lounge, resulting in a loss in profits | |
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At first glance, records show that customer counts for Kestrel: A Richard Blais Kitchen + Lounge are down as compared to last year when the space was Vue Grille & Bar. But when you consider the restaurant’s four-month closure for renovations, customer counts are actually on par. Additionally, Kestrel’s customer counts in January and February 2025 have significantly increased compared to the same period last year at the Vue Grille & Bar, indicating strong interest and satisfaction among diners. |
Moreover, despite the renovation closure, resident customer counts have risen by 80% compared to last year. Diners have also written numerous outstanding reviews praising Kestrel for its unique food, fantastic service and unbeatable views.
The Kestrel team, including Chef Richard Blais and Troon, has also been listening to customer feedback by implementing an updated menu and an enhanced dining experience, improving profitability
Truth
At first glance, records show that customer counts for Kestrel: A Richard Blais Kitchen + Lounge are down as compared to last year when the space was Vue Grille & Bar. But when you consider the restaurant’s four-month closure for renovations, customer counts are actually on par.
Additionally, Kestrel’s customer counts in January and February 2025 have significantly increased compared to the same period last year at the Vue Grille & Bar, indicating strong interest and satisfaction among diners.
Moreover, despite the renovation closure, resident customer counts have risen by 80% compared to last year. Diners have also written numerous outstanding reviews praising Kestrel for its unique food, fantastic service and unbeatable views.
The Kestrel team, including Chef Richard Blais and Troon, has also been listening to customer feedback by implementing an updated menu and an enhanced dining experience, improving profitability.
Truth
At first glance, records show that customer counts for Kestrel: A Richard Blais Kitchen + Lounge are down as compared to last year when the space was Vue Grille & Bar. But when you consider the restaurant’s four-month closure for renovations, customer counts are actually on par.
Additionally, Kestrel’s customer counts in January and February 2025 have significantly increased compared to the same period last year at the Vue Grille & Bar, indicating strong interest and satisfaction among diners.
Moreover, despite the renovation closure, resident customer counts have risen by 80% compared to last year. Diners have also written numerous outstanding reviews praising Kestrel for its unique food, fantastic service and unbeatable views.
The Kestrel team, including Chef Richard Blais and Troon, has also been listening to customer feedback by implementing an updated menu and an enhanced dining experience, improving profitability.
Truth
At first glance, records show that customer counts for Kestrel: A Richard Blais Kitchen + Lounge are down as compared to last year when the space was Vue Grille & Bar. But when you consider the restaurant’s four-month closure for renovations, customer counts are actually on par.
Additionally, Kestrel’s customer counts in January and February 2025 have significantly increased compared to the same period last year at the Vue Grille & Bar, indicating strong interest and satisfaction among diners.
Moreover, despite the renovation closure, resident customer counts have risen by 80% compared to last year. Diners have also written numerous outstanding reviews praising Kestrel for its unique food, fantastic service and unbeatable views.
The Kestrel team, including Chef Richard Blais and Troon, has also been listening to customer feedback by implementing an updated menu and an enhanced dining experience, improving profitability.
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There is no data to justify the construction projects related to Safer Streets Indian Wells. |
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Indian Wells is dedicated to improving the safety, accessibility and quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists in Indian Wells. As a result of multiple meetings held throughout March 2022 to June 2024 and surveys sent out in March 2022, May 2023 and May 2024 about street safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists, City staff identified four key streets in need of safety improvements. Safer Streets works to improve safety and quality of life for all users of Eldorado Drive, Fairway Drive, Rancho Palmeras Street and Cook Street. |
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Safer Streets Indian Wells is only focused on making roads safer for vehicular traffic, with no consideration for pedestrians. |
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The Safer Streets project addresses both pedestrian and motorist safety, with measures like traffic-calming strategies to ensure safe movement for all. |
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The improvements in Safer Streets Indian Wells are being made without any community input. |
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Community input plays a crucial role in the Safer Streets initiative. The City released four surveys and hosted four community meetings to gather feedback and guide the proposed improvements. |
You can find more details in these survey result reports:
Complete Streets Survey Results
Traffic Safety Action Plan Survey Results
Safer Streets Community Meeting 1 Survey Results
Safer Streets Community Meeting 2 Survey Results
Community Meetings Held For Phase I: Renderings for Eldorado Drive and Fairway Drive were created to provide a visual starting point for proposing improvements and were shared at the first Community Meeting on October 29, 2024, with the Planning Commission.
The second community meeting on November 20, 2024, incorporated the survey feedback from the previous meeting along with the email responses received. The final meeting with the Planning Commission was held on December 12, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. This meeting incorporated the feedback provided by the residents at the first two community meetings, as well as the email responses received.
Community Meetings Held for Phase II: The first Special Planning Commission Community Meeting for Phase 2 was held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. in the Indian Wells City Council Chambers. Cook Street and Rancho Palmeras were the topics of discussion.
Learn more about Safer Streets Indian Wells or provide feedback here.
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort does not need to rehabilitate the Players Course since it is ranked highly nationwide. |
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort must undergo needed rehabilitation and enhancements to remain competitive nationwide and boost finances. |
The Indian Wells Golf Resort must undergo needed rehabilitation and enhancements to remain competitive nationwide and boost finances.
Golf courses need to be remodeled every 15 to 20 years to maintain high standards. This can be seen in the recent renovations of courses such as Corica Park (North) in Alameda in 2023, Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert in 2016 and 2024, and the Diamond Bar Golf Course earlier this spring. Montebello Golf Course is currently closed for a 72-acre renovation. The Indian Wells Golf Resort’s Players Course opened in 2007 and must be updated in the next few years, regardless.
In addition, the Players Course is due for safety renovations. The Pavilion requires fire access, and it is more fiscally responsible to complete all renovations at one time.
The revenue growth from these improvements would help fund other requested projects, like expanded parking. To view Staff Report click here.
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort’s Players Course renovation cost of $13.5 million is too high. The Golf Resort will not see a return on investment (ROI). |
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The movement of holes 17 and 18 will be mutually beneficial for both the Golf Resort and the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa as they plan for upcoming renovations. The Golf Resort shares land rights with the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in a mutually beneficial relationship known as a perpetual easement agreement. Adding new amenities to the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa will generate significant revenue, such as the addition of a lazy river, adult pool, pickleball courts, and other recreational amenities. The City estimates that added amenities will generate $27- $32 million for the City over the next 30 years. In addition, the path that leads to Holes 17 and 18 has been washed out several times by storms, including Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023. The City is working to repair the damage, but there is always a risk that this could happen again, especially with the natural layout of the channel. Holes 17 and 18 are on the opposite side of the property from the rest of the Players Course, and detours to get around construction and repairs make this distance more time-consuming. Relocating holes 17 and 18 to a contiguous location will create a better pace of play and lower maintenance costs. This redesign has been supported by residents at the December 2021 Strategic Planning Workshops. |
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort continues to improve financially. |
In past few years, the Golf Resort has made great strides to run more efficiently and generate new revenues to offset its costs of operations and fund capital replacement at the facility. In addition, the City Council established a policy to push the Indian Wells Golf Resort to be a more profitable operation. This decision came on the heels of consistent yearly red ink that amounted to millions of dollars in the aggregate. The money to cover these losses came from the City’s General Fund, the same source of funds used to pay for vital municipal services such as police protection, fire and paramedic services and maintenance of local streets.
The City Council made three important changes in the contractual relationship between Troon Golf (the contractor managing the Golf Resort) and the City:
- The management contract was changed from a fee-for-service arrangement to an incentive-based arrangement in which Troon shares in any profit produced by the Golf Resort so long as certain revenue and expense benchmarks are achieved.
- Troon is required to invest $1,250,000 of its own money in Golf Resort capital improvements.
- The City is less involved in the day-to-day operation of the Golf Resort, serving more in an oversight function and contract manager, a role more suited to a municipal government.
The results of these changes were immediate and positive. In fiscal year 2022/23, the Golf Resort returned an operating profit of $845,948 before capital spending. In fiscal year 2023/24, the Golf Resort returned an operating profit of $1,660,438 before capital spending.
All reports produced by the City are the most accurate. The results reported by sources other than the City’s Finance Director (audited year-end statements) reflect snapshots or a partial year’s worth of financial data, leading to an incomplete view of the Golf Resort’s financial profitability. Residents are encouraged to view the Indian Wells Golf Resort Budget Book.
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The City should wait to see if the $13.5 million cost of renovating the Players Course will decrease. |
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The renovation cost is impacted by inflation and the amount of work across 42 acres and 9 greens, such as disturbed turf, earthwork, and irrigation. If the City waits to renovate, the Players Course will continue to deteriorate, increasing the likelihood that more aspects will need to be replaced. The City has sufficient funds to meet this project’s financial needs while maintaining a healthy budget for other City priorities and projects. If approved, construction would begin in early March 2025 with an opening date of November 2025. |
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The City cannot fully pay for the Indian Wells Golf Resort’s renovations and the Golf Resort will lose money. |
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The City’s funding strategy will cover the renovation project without directly affecting tax payers and solely relying on the general fund. Additionally, funding for the fire access road is not a General Fund expenditure. Instead, the City will use Riverside County’s Structural Fire Tax Credit to pay for this aspect. The County’s Structural Fire Tax Credit is a form of county property tax paid and allocated for fire-related services or capital improvements within Indian Wells. The City’s Fire Fund has reserved $1.5 million in Structural Fire Tax Credit should the Council decide to move forward with the fire access road. There are sufficient funds in the Fire Tax Credit account to pay for the fire access road and maintain a healthy reserve for future projects. The Indian Wells Golf Resort is confident that the increased usability of the course over the years will increase the Golf Resort’s profits, therefore offsetting any revenue loss during the closure. The Golf Resort is expected to remain profitable, generating nearly $720,000 in profit after accounting for the closure of the Player’s Golf Course. See the FY 2024-25 Golf Resort Operating Budget on the City’s Website. |
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The Indian Wells City Council is dedicating insufficient funds to Public Safety. |
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The Indian Wells City Council has made no cuts to Public Safety and continues to dedicate additional funds to expand its services. |
The City of Indian Wells’ top priority is offering exceptional public safety to the community. This commitment has been preserved by continuing to make no cuts to Public Safety and by dedicating approximately 29% of the general fund budget to contracting police services.
Several additional safety initiatives have also been put in place, all of which have totaled a fiscal impact of more than $1,274,960. These initiatives include home security assessment training for two Community Service Officers, increased policing by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, police overtime hours for traffic patrol including an additional 12 hours per day for night shift patrol, Home Security Rebate Program, recurring Coffee with a Cop events, a Public Safety-focused social media campaign and a Public Safety website update.
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The City of Indian Wells budget is dependent upon property taxes. |
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Tourism revenues make up more than half of the City of Indian Wells budget. |
A large contributor to the City of Indian Wells budget is the revenues collected from tourism. The tourism revenues comprised of the transient occupancy tax, admissions tax and general sales tax make up over 66% of the City's revenue.
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The City of Indian Wells shares personal information with outside sources. |
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The City keeps all personal information collected when residents sign up for mailing lists confidential. |
The City of Indian Wells values and respects the privacy of our residents. Our mailing list has always been and will continue to remain confidential.
Information can be accessed through the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. “The Office of the Assessor maintains records of real and personal property in the County of Riverside. Many of these records are available for sale.” To learn more about purchasing bulk data, visit https://www.rivcoacr.org/bulk-data-sales.
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The City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element has been approved by City Council and Certified by the California Department of Community Development. |
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The City of Indian Wells Golf Resort lost over $4 million in operating costs during 2020. |
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The Indian Wells Golf Resort’s net income from June 2019 to June 2020 was -$781,209 and from June 2020 to June 2021, the IWGR net income was $360,987. |
In a recent op-ed article noting the financial performance of city-owned golf courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Indian Wells was highlighted with figures that do not accurately reflect the Indian Wells Golf Resort’s (IWGR) operations. The figures listed in the op-ed article included Golf Resort operations, City administrative costs, capital spending and depreciation.