Palm Springs’
The Monarch Apartment Homes
The CHOC organization is thrilled to highlight the completion of The Monarch Apartment Homes - the first multifamily affordable housing in Palm Springs in almost 14 years.
This month, 60 new resident households began the process of moving in to this mid-century modern development, designed by renowned Palm Springs architect Maria Song. Lauded by Monocle on Design and the International Design Awards, Monarch’s economically-integrated affordable housing seamlessly blends with its famed neighbor, the Wexler steel homes, as Palm Springs’ first new homes for working families in more than a decade.
Thanks to the City of Palm Springs’ vision, partnership and support, Monarch’s journey began in early 2018, kicking off a shared vision with CHOC for area residents priced out of the affordable homes they sought. The process included winning critical State of California tax credit funding, a global pandemic, and many supply chain challenges. But with the cooperation of construction partner davisREED, key financial partners, and regional allies like Lift to Rise, County of Riverside, the Palm Springs City Council and its residents, CHOC is honored to celebrate this accomplishment - a new community of beautifullydesigned and sustainable homes for 60 working families.
Ideation, Inertia and Action The process of taking Monarch from a beautiful idea to tangible reality took several years; the ideation around what Monarch could look like - where mid-century modern design defines Palm Springs’ ethos - was an exciting process. Once Maria Song, AIA LEED & AP was chosen, after an exhaustive search for a Coachella Valley-based architect, the then-unnamed project took full flight. By the time Song’s butterfly wing roof renderings were realized in mid 2018, Monarch’s naming solidified, an homage to California’s most famous Lepidoptera.
Interactive Design Corporation Architect Maria Song, AIA, LEED & AP. (Photo: IDC Palm Springs)
Song’s designs were subsequently highlighted by Modernism Week as part of their February 2021 program, a hitherto unprecedented spotlight on Palm Springs’ affordable housing design by this globally-recognized organization.
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Additionally, Monarch architect Maria Song and CHOC CEO Manuela Silva were honored with a Monocle on Design podcast interview from London (2021), with Monarch’s designs receiving International Design Awards (IDA) recognition in 2022.
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Associated stories from the project’s beginnings: Monocle on Design Podcast | CHOC CEO Manuela Silva & Architect Maria Song Palm Springs Life Magazine: Maria Song and CHOC’s ‘Modern for the Masses’
(CLICK TO READ)
Winning Tax Credit Funding (click to read): • ABC 7 LA: Spotlight CHOC Monarch in Palm Springs • NBC Palm Springs: $21 Million Awarded to Palm Springs Affordable Housing Project • Palm Springs Desert Sun: CHOC Awarded $22.6 Million in State Funding to Build Affordable Housing in Coachella (CLICK TO READ)
Breaking Ground and Breaking Expectations Monarch’s October 2021 groundbreaking marked the first, new multifamily affordable housing in Palm Springs in 12 years, and a new era for sustainable housing in Coachella Valley. On that day, we began the process of proving how affordable housing for working families could be economically and architecturallyintegrated within a design-oriented community.
In short, Monarch shatters preconceived notions of what affordable housing for working families “should” or “must” look like, beautifully meeting the needs of 60 households, as well as the needs of Palm Springs, housing workers closer to their workplaces, and children closer to their schools, further solidifying the feeling and actuality of true community life.
CHOC Monarch Groundbreaking, Palm Springs, CA | October 28, 2021 WATCH THE VIDEO
Associated stories from the Groundbreaking: CHOC: Monarch Apartment Homes Breaks Ground in Palm Springs Creating generational change in Coachella Valley Desert Sun: Palm Springs’ first affordable housing project in over a decade breaks ground KESQ: Local leaders break ground on Palm Springs’ first affordable housing complex in over decade Press Release: Monarch Apartment Homes Reaches Milestone, Breaks Ground in Palm Springs (CLICK TO READ)
The Chrysalis of Construction The concept of a chrysalis perfectly explains Monarch’s construction process; just as it must bear unknown forces of nature, protecting the developing Monarch inside it, so, too, did The Monarch Apartments face post-pandemic supply chain issues, requiring innovative redesign as construction continued, remaining true to Maria Song’s original vision.
CHOC Energy Employee and Employee Training. Images courtesy of Anastasiya Lyashenko
In coordination with general construction partner davisREED, HKIT Architects, and multitudes of subcontractors and associated entities, CHOC’s Real Estate Development team, led by VP Vince Nicholas, diligently managed Monarch’s construction process and its challenges - for two years, Monarch rising from the desert floor.
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS | AUGUST 2022
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CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS | MARCH 2023
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Feature story on construction progress: CHOC: Construction Continues on CHOC’s Design-Forward Monarch Apartment Homes
(CLICK TO READ)
Building Community: One Family at a Time Beautiful affordable housing in one of the most design-forward cities in the nation is a success for CHOC, The City of Palm Springs, and our many partners. However, Monarch is still about the working families for whom CHOC builds - our mission realized. Monarch is Coachella Valley’s preeminent affordable housing case study; how CHOC and The City of Palm Springs designed and built stability, sustainability and independence for working families on a once-vacant lot at East San Rafael Drive and North Indian Canyon Road.
From an initial waitlist and application process, to hopeful qualification for Monarch’s 30-60% AMI housing, receiving keys and the joyous reality of actually moving in - this is the path that 60 Monarch households took. It’s also among the most gratifying parts of CHOC’s work. At Monarch - as with all communities we build for working families - CHOC Impact staff, as led by VP Terri Smyth, will provide critical resident services, partnering with households on a daily basis, building community onsite, but also empowering and inspiring residents to build their own independence - to work, to go to school, to thrive in Palm Springs, just like their neighbors next door and on the next block.
Read the story: CHOC: Creating Awareness for CHOC Monarch’s Waitlist
CHOC Community Impact VP Terri Smyth and Project Coordinator Juan Pulido meet at Lift to Rise headquarters with Joe Mota, Director of Resident Engagement, Ariana Rodriguez, Resident Engagement Coordinator, and Barrett Newkirk, Communications Director. Community partnerships like these helped spread the word for Monarch’s waitlist process, as well as the services available to qualifying residents.
KESQ: Monarch Apartment Homes: Affordable housing community in Palm Springs taking applications WATCH THE VIDEO
Ready to Launch Monarch is nearing 100% completion - a thrilling moment for Coachella Valley, but also for the City of Palm Springs, the CHOC organization, and most importantly, 60 new Palm Springs households. To see and walk the length of the community, to experience its reflection garden near the Wexler steel homes, to tour beautifully finished units and marvel at an innovative children’s play zone and splash pad - we realize that 60 families will begin building their lives here; that with our partners, CHOC achieved something valuable, lasting and beautiful. All of this is possible thanks the convergence of world-class skill sets, unique architectural vision, and invaluable engineering and construction expertise. Maria Song’s Monarch is now a reality, a significant addition to the fabric of Palm Springs. And CHOC’s brand promise is a promise beautifully kept.
Associated stories nearing Grand Opening: CHOC: Monarch and Placita Dolores Huerta Near Completion, Welcoming New Real Estate Development Team Members The Palm Springs Post: After a 14-year gap, new affordable housing units have opened for tenants in Palm Springs
(CLICK TO READ)
Joy Silver, CHOC Chief Strategy Officer jsilver@chochousing.org | (760) 290-8334 James B. Mowdy, CHOC Corporate Communications Director jmowdy@chochousing.org | (650) 315-7513