Disney plans themed housing
Walt Disney Co. is extending its brand into real estate, announcing plans this week to develop residential “storyliving” communities around the country where fans will be able to to live, make friends and soak in the magic of Disney in their everyday lives.
The first of the developments, dubbed “Cotino,” will be in built in Riverside County’s Rancho Mirage, near where founder Walt Disney once owned a home, the company said in a news release. Additional locations are being explored.
“As we prepare to enter our second century, we are developing new and exciting ways to bring the magic of Disney to people wherever they are, expanding storytelling to storyliving,” Disney parks division chairman Josh D’Amaro said in the release.
The new communities, called “Storyliving by Disney,” will be open to all ages, with some neighborhoods designated for residents 55 years or older. Trained Disney cast members will operate the community associations, and Disney will provide access to “curated experiences” through a club membership, including wellness programming, live entertainment and cooking classes.
The project also has approval for a mixed-use district including shopping, dining and entertainment, a beachfront hotel and professionally managed beach park that will be accessible by the public with a day pass. Disney is collaborating with Arizona-based DMB Development, which specializes in planned communities, for the project.
Disney’s previous forays into residential properties include the master-planned town of Celebration, Fla., in the 1990s and high-end homes in resort-style communities near Walt Disney World. to traditional government training efforts.
The tech giant is working with three nonprofit groups on the effort: Year Up, which focuses on upward mobility programs for the disadvantaged; Merit America, an organization that offers tech training programs for adults without a bachelor’s degree; and Social Finance, which designs student-friendly financing and repayment plans.
The training organizations are paid a portion of their costs upfront and receive additional payments only if their graduates land and keep higher-paying jobs. The program will combine Google philanthropy with loan repayments from students. The loans will carry no interest, and students will begin repaying only if they get a job that pays at least $40,000 a year. The payments will be about $100 a month and continue for a maximum of five years.
The Google fund will pay to start and support the program, since not all students will graduate and secure higherpaying jobs. But loan repayments from successful students will help support training for others in the future. The Google fund hopes to fuel total wage gains of $1 billion for 20,000 training program graduates.