Summer in Rancho Mirage runs on a shorter list than the rest of the year. Sunnylands is dark. The country clubs are quiet. Bob Hope Drive at 7 p.m. feels like a different address than it does in February. That contraction has a fixed end date this year, and it lands earlier than most residents may realize.
Between the second week of September and the first cool weekend in November, four separate openings will change where people in this city eat, walk, and spend a Saturday morning. Taken individually, each is a nice update. Taken together, they signal something more useful for anyone who lives here: the daily-life center of Rancho Mirage is quietly widening beyond the Highway 111 spine it has leaned on for two decades.
Circle September 9
Sunnylands is currently closed for its annual summer hiatus and will reopen Wednesday, September 9, 2026. That is the anchor date for the fall. The Center & Gardens run Wednesday through Sunday, 8:30 am to 4 pm, from mid-September to early June, and admission stays free.
What is worth knowing if you have only been through once as a guest of a visiting friend:
- A 17,000-square-foot Frederick Fisher & Partners building sits on a 15-acre parcel adjacent to the historic Annenberg estate and is surrounded by a nine-acre garden designed by the Office of James Burnett, with more than 53,000 individual arid-landscape plants and 1.25 miles of walking paths.
- From November to April, a peaceful birding walk circles the property, with year-round residents such as the vermillion flycatcher plus several species that migrate through in spring and fall.
- Free family-friendly activities include yoga on the Great Lawn and outdoor movie screenings throughout the year.
For a homeowner who treats Sunnylands as a place to bring out-of-town guests, the more interesting proposition in the shoulder season is the standing calendar of bird walks, yoga, tai chi, workshops, and more. It functions as a nine-acre backyard the city happens to maintain for you, and September 9 is the day it opens again.
Cotino's Public Town Center Debuts in the Fall
This is the update most likely to change your Saturday routine.
Storyliving by Disney has announced the first lineup of restaurants, retailers, and wellness studios that will open in the initial phase of Cotino Bay Beach, Dining and Shops, part of the new Cotino community in Rancho Mirage. The public town center is scheduled to open in fall 2026, offering a mix of dining, shopping, and leisure experiences, along with paid access to Cotino Bay.
The first-phase tenants are named and specific:
| Tenant | Category | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|
| Elevare | Dining | First-phase restaurant tenant |
| On the Mark Fine Foods & Provisions | Market and cafe | Second location; more than double the Palm Springs footprint |
| Artigiano | Coffee | First U.S. location of the Canadian brand |
| Khaga Yoga | Wellness | 2,000-square-foot studio with retail boutique |
On the Mark is opening a second location at the new Cotino town center in Rancho Mirage. The owners say this location will be more than twice the size of their Palm Springs store, with more space to sit down and enjoy the food. They are also planning to sell both produce and meat. The goal is to open in the fall of 2026. That grocer-plus-cafe format is not a category Rancho Mirage has east of Bob Hope Drive right now. A larger On the Mark inside Cotino puts a real weekday errand destination between the residential density around Frank Sinatra Drive and the retail row on 111.
Khaga Yoga will open a 2,000-square-foot studio offering classes for all levels, including family sessions, and a retail boutique with yoga accessories and essentials. The presence of a wellness tenant in the opening phase, alongside a coffee brand entering the country for the first time here, tells you what the developer is aiming at: a public front door that reads as a neighborhood town square rather than a resort amenity.
For context on how the community sits around it, the Cotino community combines desert design with a range of amenities and programs available through an optional Artisan Club membership, and homebuilders Shea Homes, Woodbridge Pacific Group, and Davidson Communities are constructing homes in several styles and layouts starting in the mid-$1 millions. The town center is the piece open to everyone, membership or not.
New Along Highway 111 and Bob Hope Drive
Not every fall arrival is inside Cotino. The Highway 111 corridor has been busy through the first half of 2026, and a few of those openings will feel most useful once the season turns.
Double Date at Omni Rancho Las Palmas. Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage celebrates the fresh bounty of California and Italy at Double Date, the resort's new dining experience by executive chef Jose Lopez, a member of the Omni family for almost 30 years. "Double Date is inspired by the Coachella Valley's reputation as the 'date capital of the world,' home to many local date farms that play an important role in the region's agricultural heritage," says Thomas Shewmake, the resort's director of food and beverage. Live entertainment is offered five nights a week in the plaza, from Wednesday to Sunday, and Double Date is open daily for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. The pitch is explicit that this is a signature restaurant that also appeals to locals, which is the tell for how the room will read on a Tuesday in October.
Keke's Breakfast Cafe at Rancho Mirage Marketplace. A second Coachella Valley location in Rancho Mirage is expected to open in 2026 at the Rancho Mirage Marketplace, with signature breakfast and lunch offerings including fluffy pancakes, stuffed French toast, savory omelets, and freshly made paninis. A full-day breakfast concept at that intersection is a category Rancho Mirage residents currently drive to Palm Desert or Palm Springs to find.
The Capital Grille at the old Roy's site. Project plans have been uncovered for a possible outpost of The Capital Grille coming to Rancho Mirage. The company has shown clear interest in the site at 71959 CA-111, with more than a dozen construction documents filed so far. The project is currently in the construction bidding phase, involving conversion of an existing building to accommodate a 9,260-square-foot full-service fine dining restaurant with an occupancy limit of 316 guests and a seat count of 275. Previously, the site housed Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, which closed in 2021. Darden has not confirmed publicly; Communications Manager Leah Santiago said, "As The Capital Grille continues to grow, our real estate teams are constantly looking for sites across the country. However, we do not comment on any specific plans until a project has received the necessary approvals." A five-year-empty pad on this stretch of 111 finally moving is worth tracking on its own.
What Actually Changes for Residents
Read the four openings together and a shape emerges. Sunnylands anchors the northeast quadrant of the city. Cotino's town center will anchor the south, off Bob Hope and Ramon. Double Date and Keke's fill in the middle. The Capital Grille, if it lands, gives the western edge of 111 a fine-dining reset it has been missing since 2021.
For a homeowner who has spent a decade routing every errand through the same three blocks of Highway 111 between The River and the Marketplace, the fall map genuinely broadens. A Saturday could look like a bird walk at Sunnylands, a coffee at Artigiano's first American counter, groceries and lunch at the larger On the Mark, and dinner at Double Date, without ever backtracking through the same intersection twice.
The other quiet effect, harder to see until you live through it: shoulder-season foot traffic no longer needs to bunch on the same handful of patios. That is the kind of change residents feel first, six months before it shows up in a market report.
Planning Your Fall
If you are timing house guests, September 9 is the date that unlocks everything else. Cotino's fall opening window is broader; watch onthemarkpalmsprings.com and the Cotino site for a firm date on the town center. Keke's and The Capital Grille are still on soft timelines that are worth checking again in early October.
When you are ready to talk about how these shifts translate into where to live within Rancho Mirage, Mark Wise Group is here for a private conversation. Request a Private Consultation.
