Featured Topics:

• Please congratulate Shawna Strange on achieving "Rookie Of The Year" for 2008. Shawna specializes in the sales and leasing of retail properties throughout the Coachella Valley.
  
• Maggie Montez, Senior Vice President and one of Real Estate Southern California's "Reigning Women of Real Estate" recently commented on her experience as a commercial broker in the Coachella Valley:
  
  “Working to grow the retail and office communities of the Coachella Valley has been such a  rewarding experience.  Since moving to the desert in 1988,  I have had the opportunity to participate in smart, balanced growth, bringing national retailers to our neighborhoods.  CBRE has been the engine of that growth, allowing the office to grow from just one lone agent in 1995 to five agents and a wonderful support staff today.  We are committed to providing Coachella Valley residents, developers and landlords with a world-wide overview coupled with in depth local knowledge.” 
  
  Maggie Montez | Senior Vice President
  CB Richard Ellis | Brokerage Services | Retail Services

Office Description:

Once best known as the legendary stomping grounds of the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope, the Coachella Valley is now a booming, year-round housing, retail and job hub in Southern California.  While the region is still counted among the country’s premiere travel destinations, it is also now home to 410,974 people, which represents a 23.6 percent increase in total population over the last five years.  Combined with a seasonal population of another 150,000, the Coachella Valley population has exceeded the half million mark.

The median home price in the region currently stands at ±$180,000, making it the second most affordable market in all of California. The past five years, the retail boom in the Coachella Valley – from Palm Springs to La Quinta and everywhere in between – has seen a tremendous amount of new retail development. Today, retailers such as Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Vons, Ralphs and Macy’s are counted among the region’s top employers. In fact, the Coachella Valley is the only region in California to house three Super Wal-Mart stores.

The region’s workforce is increasingly educated, with two new university satellite campuses in Palm Desert: California State University, San Bernardino and the University of California Riverside.  This educated and young workforce (the median age in the Valley is just 36 years old), is appealing to major corporations, including Guthy-Renker, Guy Evans, World International Vacation Club and Ernie Ball Guitars, all of which call the Coachella Valley their corporate headquarters.