Palm Springs, CA
Those looking to get a burger “animal style” closer to home in Palm Springs just got one step closer, as planning commissioners gave the planned In-N-Out restaurant a thumbs up Monday night, voting 5-0 to approve revised design conditions for the project. However, commissioners aren’t ready to call it done, asking for one more review before giving the restaurant final architectural approval.
The Palm Springs Architectural Review Committee’s approval came only after an initial motion to approve the project failed 3-2 earlier in the same meeting, with committee members citing continued concerns about the building’s design. The panel then added a requirement that the applicant bring the design back for a sixth review before the project can move forward.
The restaurant would sit at 1801 East Palm Canyon Drive in Smoke Tree Village, replacing a Bank of America building that has sat vacant since 2024. This marks In-N-Out’s sixth trip before the committee.
Palm Springs’ architectural identity took shape in the decades following World War II, when architects including Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, Donald Wexler and E. Stewart Williams designed homes and civic buildings that embraced clean lines, flat planes, floor-to-ceiling glass and a close relationship between indoor and outdoor living. The style, now known as desert modernism, drew on the region’s climate and landscape, and it remains a defining feature of the city’s identity, drawing preservationists and tourists alike. Modern Palm Springs News writes City officials frequently point to that legacy when reviewing new commercial projects, pushing developers to reflect the era’s design principles rather than more generic architectural styles.
Commissioners still aren’t sold on how the building looks from the outside. Members said the design doesn’t match the look Palm Springs is known for. The city has already asked In-N-Out to square off the building’s corners, remove a keystone feature above the entrance, and simplify a bulky trash enclosure so it doesn’t stick out.
Landscaping came up too. Commissioners raised concerns about headlights from cars lined up at the drive-thru shining onto nearby homes at night and want thicker landscaping to block that glare for nearby residents. The city is also pushing for larger, denser shade trees in the parking lot after finding the current landscaping plan didn’t provide enough shade.
In-N-Out’s development manager told the committee the company is willing to make the additional changes.
The project will come back before the committee for a sixth review before getting final sign-off on its design.