Living Out Palm Springs, a luxury resort-style retirement community designed to meet the unique needs of active LGBTQ+ seniors, had its grand opening Tuesday. Photo: Living Out Palm Springs
Living Out Palm Springs, a luxury resort-style retirement community designed to meet the unique needs of active LGBTQ+ seniors, had its grand opening Tuesday.
Loren S. Ostrow and Paul Alanis of Koar International are the developers of the nine-acre property along East Tahquitz Canyon Way near downtown Palm Springs.
“We hear stories all the time about people who are discriminated against from the senior communities they live in, whether it’s from other residents or from the staff,” Ostrow, 71, one of the project’s developers, said in a previous interview with Q Voice News. “Sometimes people have to hide photographs in their own homes, photographs of them with their partners, so people don’t know they’re in a same-sex relationship.”
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In the greater Palm Springs area, a popular retirement destination for decades for wealthy gay men and lesbians, welcoming and safe communities for LGBTQ+ people 55 and over have been almost nonexistent.
The Coachella Valley’s first and LGBTQ+-centric retirement community, North Palm Springs’ Stonewall Gardens, opened in 2014.
According to SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders), when compared to older heterosexual adults, LGBTQ+ seniors face several challenges:
- They are twice as likely to live alone
- Half as likely to have life partners or significant others
- Half as likely to have close relatives to call for help
- Are caregivers for older loved ones, but four times less likely to have children to help them.
Living Out Palm Springs, with the iconic Mid Century Modern design that is renowned in the city, has been created to fight loneliness and increase socialization among residents, according to project officials.
Living Out Palm Springs is targeted to affluent seniors and offers numerous amenities:
- Private screening room
- Massage studio
- Hair, pedicare, and manduireu salon
- Community lounge with coffee bar, prepared food options, yogurt bar, and workspace
- Swimming pool
- Jacuzzi-spa areas
- Fitness center
- Putting green
- Bocce ball courts
- Outdoor BBQ and entertainment areas
- Pet park for large and small dogs adjacent to a full-service pet facility (retail, grooming, boarding, and daycare)
Living Out Palm Springs also features Alice B., the latest restaurant from world-renowned chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken.
The 122 luxury apartments are rented, not old, and offered in four configurations ranging from a 1 bed, 1 ½ bath, and den to a 2 bed, 2 ½ bath, and den.
Units range from 1,100 to 1,700 square feet, with every unit containing a large balcony or patio.
Rental prices range from $4,999 to $8,3999 per month.
The project was initially scheduled to open in early 2020 as a luxury condo retirement community, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it was put on hold.
Ostrow and Alanis eventually decided to pivot their business model from luxury condominiums to upscale apartments.
