Ritter Ranch Co

Only two months after taking control of a controversial planned community in Palmdale, a Colorado-based developer has filed for bankruptcy, listing nearly $65 million in debt. But developer John Musick said Monday that the Oct. 30 filing was designed to stave off a second foreclosure on the storied project, and was not an admission that efforts have again failed to turn the barren strip into one of the largest new housing developments in the state, with a planned 7,200 houses.

Property foreclosures are nothing new in Palmdale, where the real estate recession has been lengthy and severe, but Wednesday's dwarfed all others. The foreclosure was against Ritter Ranch Co., the group behind what was potentially one of the largest housing developments in the state. Ritter Ranch was to be a planned community for 20,000 people located on the fringe of Palmdale. But before a single house was built, the project became mired in debt.

Property foreclosures are nothing new in Palmdale, where the real estate recession has been lengthy and severe, but Wednesday's dwarfed all others to date. The foreclosure was against Ritter Ranch Co., the group behind what had been billed as one of the largest new housing developments in the state. A brief court proceeding turned ownership of the 18-square-mile Ritter Ranch property over to its lender, Bankers Trust Co. of New York.