Posted on 05/28/2010 10:24:23 AM PDT by Fred
It was 2007, and the Southwest was in the grips of speculative fever.
The land frenzy was particularly acute in Las Vegas, where major casino companies were in the middle of ambitious expansions, feeding the demand for housing and driving prices skyward.
Danny Tarkanian, now a leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was looking to share in the good times.
With the development industry booming, a friend and partner in Tarkanian’s real estate firm approached him about an investment opportunity: Dignitary Downs, an “equestrian destination resort” in Anza, Calif., complete with a 200-room hotel, restaurant and jockey school, all on land once owned by Dodgers great Don Drysdale.
Tarkanian wouldn’t be a traditional investor, though. His family’s company, Vegas Diamond Properties, would become a “hard-money” lender, borrowing money — using its own property as collateral — to then lend to the developer at a premium interest rate. The practice, common during the boom, helped fund projects that couldn’t get conventional financing.
(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegassun.com ...
This guy lives in Vegas and says the deal had suspect beginnings.
Pleeeezzzzzz, give me a break. What a brilliant observation.
/sarc
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