Despite the less-than-magical results of its experiment in Celebration, Florida, Disney has announced plans to build a chain of master-planned communities around the country.
More than two decades after Disney's first foray into residential development, the company is launching a network of master-planned communities known as Storyliving by Disney, which "will feature distinctively designed spaces, unique amenities and Disney’s brand of world-renowned service," says the company. Disney plans to partner with third-party developers to build and maintain the communities. "With this latest venture, Disney apparently wants to revisit its residential dreams while focusing on the vague and eternally sunny concept of 'storytelling,'" writes James Vincent in The Verge.
According to an article by Herb Scribner, "The first location — called Contino, a Storyliving by Disney community — will be built in the Coachella Valley in Rancho Mirage, California'' and will include 1,900 new homes. Disney plans to provide a club membership and 'curated' experiences and programming for residents, as well as day passes for visitors.
Disney's vision of meticulously planned residential communities, an idea that Walt Disney introduced shortly before his death with his unrealized plan for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), famously became a reality when the company opened Celebration, Florida in 1996. Since then, that town has struggled to live up to its early promises. By 2010, Celebration saw a foreclosure rate twice as high as the Florida state average. The company has not yet announced pricing or additional locations for the Storyliving communities.
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