In 2024 the Desert Trumpet highlighted development proposals throughout the Morongo Basin. This year we’ll update the status of these projects and add a few others. These developments differ in scope, size, cost, funders, and zoning. Some projects are moving forward and others have met with legal opposition. New development projects have popped up including a couple that seem bafflingly inappropriate for for the Hi Desert.
We try to track these projects throughout the year, but if we’ve missed anything, please let us know! In the coming week we’ll do a deeper dive into developments in Twentynine Palms that include housing and short-term rentals as well as the lodging featured here.
TWENTYNINE PALMS
Commercial Projects in Residential Zoning
We’ll start with Twentynine Palms because the Desert Trumpet’s focus is on the scrappy little city wedged between the Marine Base and Joshua Tree National Park.
In 2024 our development recap focused on the Ofland Resort and the Twentynine Palms Solar Project. Both saw momentum in 2025.
Ofland Resort
In May Jonathan Hume reported for the Desert Trumpet:
On Wednesday, May 14, 2025, the Twentynine Palms Planning Division effectively gave the proposed Ofland Hotel Twentynine Palms resort development a big leg up, making public the City's Initial Study (IS)1 finding that the project needn't do a costly and time consuming Environmental Impact Report (EIR), because its moderate impact instead merits a far less expensive and onerous Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND).
We covered the City Council’s July 22 decision to approve the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and zoning and General Plan changes that would allow construction of the resort to move forward here. This decision in effect approved startup of the resort project, which required conversion of a residentially zoned area to a tourist-commercial and open space conservation designation.
In August, the Center for Biological Diversity and Indian Cove Neighbors filed a lawsuit in the San Bernardino County Superior Court against the City of Twentynine Palms over the City Council’s approval of the proposed Ofland resort project without a full environmental review. Desert Trumpet reporter Eleanor Whitney goes into greater depth here. The lawsuit is currently moving through the State-mandated legal process.
Ofland was also briefly named in the city’s draft Strategic Plan under a goal to strengthen hospitality infrastructure. The mention of the resort was removed due to objections from other hospitality providers before approval of the plan at the City Council’s December 9 meeting.
E-Group PS Solar Project
Since March 2023, the Desert Trumpet has reported on public scoping meetings on a solar project that E-Group PS, LLC, proposes to build adjacent to the Harmony Acres neighborhood of Twentynine Palms. This includes the project’s introduction at City Council in May 2023, recaps of public meetings held in March 2024 and a feature on the who benefits from the project. See our 2024 overview for background.
On December 9, 2025, a draft of the Environmental Impact Report for the E-Group PS Solar Project was released. The report, which was prepared by Terra Nova Planning & Research, can be accessed via the City of Twentynine Palm’s website. The 45-day public review period is open until January 22, 2026. During that time, both individuals and public agencies are able to submit written comments on the draft to Community Development Director Keith Gardner at Twentynine Palms City Hall at kgardner@29palms.org or the City of Twentynine Palms, 6136 Adobe Road, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277.
FLAMINGO HEIGHTS AND LANDERS
Flamingo Blossom
In December 2024 we gave a rundown on Flamingo Blossom to be situated off of Old Woman Springs Road directly north of popular desert destination restaurant La Copine. Developers presented plans for a 19-room resort on a 4.4-acre lot. The lot is zoned for commercial development, but many homes sit directly behind it. Per the project’s website,
The property will provide commercial spaces for a market and art gallery, a family friendly outdoor space, and an event space for retreats, weddings, art events, and, when needed, disaster relief.
The project has been quiet in 2025; Flamingo Blossom’s website and social media have not been updated, and knowledgeable Flamingo Heights residents have nothing to report.
The Landing
The Landing—also called the Landers Hotel—is a proposed resort-style hotel set on a 5.7-acre lot in Landers on Belfield Road on lots zoned for commercial use.
Plans for this project include a 35-room hotel, a market accessible to locals, a restaurant and bar, an onsen spa and an observatory. In September 2025, the developers posted a notice of intent to adopt a mitigated negative declaration. The 85-page initial study has been posted by San Bernardino County here. The review and comment period began September 22 and closed on October 21.
Attendees of a November 2024 community meeting had mixed reactions to the project. Some objected to light pollution and disruption from traffic. Others, like Chris Gubler of Gubler Orchids, said “I just want to tell the group I’ve been looking at this and listening, and I support the project. It conforms to the law, they bought that land and they can build on that land.”
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JOSHUA TREE
LoveMore Ranch
LoveMore Ranch is a proposed development of 64 homes on a vacant 18.5 acre parcel in the Friendly Hills area of Joshua Tree, northwest of Alta Loma Dr. and Sunset Rd. It’s zoned JT-RS (Single Residential) and has been owned by Axel Cramer since September 2020. According to the LoveMore Ranch website, the parcel’s “zoning allows for 57 to 114 homes, but we plan to develop 64 lots to balance density with preserving the natural habitat.”
In our December 2024 update, the Desert Trumpet noted an August Cramer and his group held a meeting at Joshua Tree Community Center to solicit community input. Despite the fact the area immediately north has similarly small parcels, per Z107.7 reporting, attendees disliked the project’s density and some vowed to oppose it.
In January 2025, the San Bernardino County Planning Commission approved the project’s tentative map.
In 2025, an appeal by the Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA) and a group called Joshua Tree Village Neighbors (JTVN) challenging approval of the LoveMore Ranch project was denied by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on April 8. After that decision, JTVN filed a lawsuit contesting the County’s decision.
The lawsuit claims the project’s Mitigated Negative Declaration (linked here) did not meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). It also alleges that public notices for comments and hearings were inadequate. The appeal raised concerns about flooding, wastewater treatment near homes, traffic safety, and conflicts with community planning documents. It also argued the project should require a Conditional Use Permit.
MBCA further argues the project is not sustainable, as it would remove native vegetation, regrade the land, and eliminate more than 50 Joshua Trees. While MBCA supports new housing, it favors lower-density development that better fits the neighborhood.
As with the Ofland legal action, the lawsuit is currently moving through the State-mandated legal process.
Joshua Tree Resort
New for 2025 is the Joshua Tree Resort, a four-bedroom short-term rental operated by Fieldtrip. It boasts a lazy river pool, hot tub, sauna, yoga deck, outdoor egg swing theater, a putting green, and a commercial grade ice machine. As it has in Twentynine Palms, Fieldtrip describes this resort as a “residence” that “stands apart as one of the only homes in the high desert with its own private lazy river.”
This project’s property, located at 2751 Border Avenue, is being considered for rezoning, changing medium-density residential land to commercial use. The County prepared an Initial Study with a recommended Mitigated Negative Declaration. The public comment period ran from April 25 to May 27, 2025. However, according to the MBCA, notice was not given to the Joshua Basin Water District, nearby property owners, or the community. A search has not revealed that rezoning has occurred, even as the resort appears to be in operation and is being advertised on social media.
Compass Yacht Club
Also new for 2025 was the Compass Yacht Club. A town hall meeting at the Joshua Tree Community Center was held on the stealthy date of December 17 for the nautical-themed resort the Hi Desert didn’t know it needed. Nonetheless, Z1077 reported that nearly 50 skeptical residents attended.
Developers Rigel Bitterman from Lucky Find Hospitality and David Loewenstein and Jason Grauten from RAD LAB presented their vision for a resort set across 23 acres. It includes 38 yacht and 28 boathouse accommodations. The most likely cluster of parcels at the Border Road and Hwy 62 location given by the developers is bisected by a large wash, making the yacht theme perhaps unintentionally appropriate.
YUCCA VALLEY AND WONDER VALLEY
The Desert Trumpet is unaware of resort or large housing development projects in Yucca Valley or Wonder Valley. If any are afoot, please share information with us.
NOTE: Desert Trumpet staff members Cindy Bernard, Kat Talley-Jones, and Heidi Heard live in the Indian Cove neighborhood, adjacent to this proposed development project, and are on the organizing committees of Indian Cove Neighbors and Say No to Ofland. Read our policy for covering Ofland here.
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The Ofland Initial Study is no longer linked on the City of Twentynine Palms’ website.
Yachts? I’m confused…