Change of Leadership at Palmwood

I first heard about it at the March 18 DHS City Council meeting when City Manager Rick Daniels referenced "the new Palmwood owners." I asked here if anyone had more information on that, but I heard nothing back. Another passing reference was made in this Desert Local News article:

Mr. Crosby, was the original spokesman and partner for Palmwood who filed for bankruptcy in Nevada where the company was incorporated. The investors held a shareholders meeting and Crosby exited. Mr. Brecker, from Minnesotta is now the head of the company.

The Desert Sun has had nothing on Palmwood since early in February. Fortunately, the Press-Enterprise has done a story on the subject. According to the article, Michael Crosby has been ousted by his investors. Crosby has responded with a lawsuit "contending he was trapped into loans with unreasonable interest rates and demands and no way to pay them back." That's interesting logic. The business has gone badly, therefore I should continue to be head of the project.

The Palmwood project is far from dead, however. It's like the Terminator.

"We still see that there is a high-value project there that can be built and yet still respect the environmentally sensitive areas," said Rick Daniels, city manager of Desert Hot Springs.

True enough, but let's hope Mr. Daniels is talking about a much scaled down project that doesn't put a golf course in the Big Morongo Canyon wash. The lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity has still not been settled.