Palm Desert's new library project is getting a new builder after its first contractor's design came in at nearly double the city's approved $30 million budget. The Palm Desert City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to bring in Barnhart-Reese Construction as the design-build contractor for the long-planned facility, replacing Tilden-Coil Constructors, which had been hired for the job in November 2025.
Tilden-Coil had already torn down the old Parkview Office Building at 73-710 Fred Waring Drive, the site where the new library is set to rise, according to NBC Palm Springs. But earlier this year, the Palm Desert City Council cut Tilden-Coil from further design work after its refined design came in far above the city's approved $30 million budget for the project. City records show the council had already moved in March to amend Tilden-Coil's contract, reducing its compensation from $1,737,227 to $1,068,460 for design services, according to a City of Palm Desert staff report.
A Design Nearly Twice the Budget
The original conceptual design, approved by the council in February 2025, came from Richärd Kennedy Architects and featured a palm grove-inspired theme with a canopy-like shade structure meant to echo the surrounding Civic Center Park, according to The Riverside Record. When Tilden-Coil's design validation came back, it projected costs nearly double what the city had budgeted, prompting the council to end the firm's role in the project's building scope.
If approved Thursday, Barnhart-Reese Construction would take over as design-build contractor and rework the existing library design to bring the cost down, per the NBC Palm Springs report. The firm's design and pre-construction work alone would cost around $2,251,120. Notably, Thursday's vote would not authorize actual construction — it would only authorize design and pre-construction work, and the item includes no request for additional funding at this stage.
Bigger Price Tag, Later Opening
Palm Desert officials now expect the total project to cost around $45 million, up sharply from the original $30 million budget. That original financing plan relied on $20 million in Capital Bonds, $6 million from the city's Measure G local sales tax, and $4 million from Riverside County, according to the City of Palm Desert. It remains an open question where the city will find the roughly $15 million gap between that original budget and the new $45 million estimate.
The timeline has slipped as well. City project officials told a July study session that adding a second round of candidate interviews to pick a new design-builder pushed the target opening date back to late 2028 or early 2029, The Riverside Record reported. After cutting Tilden-Coil, the city issued a new progressive design-build request for proposals and drew submissions from six design-build teams, per the same account. City officials said at the time that taking the extra time to vet contractors was preferable to managing construction problems later.
Why the Move Matters Now
The new complex is planned as a 20,198-square-foot main library building alongside an adjacent 5,720-square-foot community building that will house a Palm Desert Visitor Center, a café, and a meeting room, according to KESQ. It would replace the city's current library, which is located on the College of the Desert campus and leased through the college. That current facility spans 40,000 square feet split evenly between the city's public library and a college library area that has sat unoccupied by the college since January 2020.
The city withdrew from the Riverside County Library System back in October 2023 and now operates its own municipal library system. That move gives the relocation added urgency, since College of the Desert plans to reclaim its campus space once the city's lease runs out, while the project's target opening has slipped to late 2028 or early 2029.
If the council approves Barnhart-Reese Thursday, the firm would eventually bring a final construction price for the whole project back to the city council after finishing its design work, and the council would then decide whether to proceed with actual building. Tilden-Coil, for its part, has previously been involved in a Cathedral City library dispute.
