Financing for the $500-million Ritz Carlton at Rancho Mirage fell through after the investment giant Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for bankruptcy in September. The troubled firm provided financing for the Ritz Carlton, and the developer was forced to halt construction on the project. The massive resort in the Coachella Valley was about 80% completed but sits abandoned today.
“We were spending half a million dollars a day with a crew of 450 workers — all those people were out of jobs,” Dave Peterson said.
The Petersons have lived in Newport Beach for the past 25 years, where they live in a comfortable, ranch-style house in a quite neighborhood.
“The schools here are good, but the economy is so bad — it’s scary,” Anne Peterson said.
Their three daughters, Allyssa, 19, Amanda, 16 and Avery, 13, are all active in sports like swimming and water polo. Allyssa is a sophomore at UC Berkeley, studying mass communications.
“We try to keep those problems away from them,” Anne Peterson said, of the family’s recent financial worries.
Dave Peterson looked far and wide for work in the construction business closer to home, but with the worsening economic situation, nobody was hiring.
Large-scale, private construction projects everywhere were being put on hold due to economic uncertainty.
“Everyone was delaying hiring decisions,” Dave Peterson said. “If I could figure out how to live on my unemployment check, I would, but the kids want to eat and I’m putting a daughter through college.”
Anne Peterson encouraged her husband to seek employment abroad.
Now Dave Peterson is headed for the Middle East after landing a job working for the world’s largest interior contractor, Depa, Ltd. Based in Dubai, the company specializes in outfitting luxury resorts.
