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 to date.

A long-delayed major property development in Palmdale may resume this summer and restore a defaulted property-improvement bond issue under a bankruptcy court plan.

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.