Plans for the new downtown Cathedral City Casino / Entertainment area were unveiled by the city and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians on Monday. And while the designs for the buildings look nice, there’s no word yet on what tenants will fill them. As Cactus Hugs is well known for making things awesome and even more awesome, I thought I should take 10 minutes and offer up the best suggestions.
Building A
Let’s start alphabetically, shall we. The thing I hear more from anyone about what this town needs is a good country bar. Tuesday night line dancing would pack this place and it could draw a nice crowd by putting in a mechanical bull with a viewing window for those walking by. They could also sling some barbecue here and let’s make the second story a nice patio.
For those who don’t like country music, don’t worry, I got you – which is why the yee ha tunes is as far away from everything else as possible.
Building B
While there should be some bars and sit down restaurants, there should also be a fast casual. While there are plenty of these to choose from nowadays (Blaze Pizza, Habit Burger, Rubio’s, etc., I went with Capriotti’s, as the Coachella Valley doesn’t have one yet).
Building C
For this spot, it’s a tossup between So Cal burger joints that have not yet come to the desert. I am perfectly fine with either a Slater’s 50/50 or Umami Burger – which would both bring rad burgers, beer, and more to Cathedral City. This could also be a good spot for a local brewery that also serves food.
Building D
Yeah, yeah, I know. There are H&M stores in Palm Desert and Palm Springs now, so I think it’s required that every city now gets one. You could actually put one of many stores here: Forever 21, Old Navy, some place better that I am not thinking of. Honestly, I don’t want to come to this center to shop, but others will, so something has to go here.
Building E
How about a place that gives people a way to lose a bunch of spare change that’s not a slot machine…oh, wait, don’t let the Tribe read that. Seriously, a Dave and Buster’s or a Gameworks is sorely needed in Greater Palm Springs (especially since Topgolf won’t listen to us!!!). A place to gab a beer and a bit and have fun?…hell yeah!
Building F
So this building looks like it is going to be more of a valet parking chalet or something, but it should still have room for something. It will probably be another Starbucks, but a local coffee joint would be much cooler.
And there you go. That’s one take on the new Cathedral City downtown. What would you like to see at the new complex? Let’s discuss in the comments.
