La Quinta approves 5th amendment for long-delayed TALUS luxury resort after financial struggles
Update 10/17/23
The La Quinta City Council unanimously approved "Amendment Five," resetting financial penalties for missed deadlines against the developer of the project and bringing in new lenders to address rising interest rates and higher labor and material cost
The builders also offered an update on the project at the council meeting, providing new information and a new timeline on financing for the project.
They say they expect to have a new multi-million dollar loan to consolidate the project's debt by the end of the month.
Original Report 10/16/23
The La Quinta City Council will hear its first monthly promised TALUS luxury resort project update since February on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. and will consider a fifth development amendment with the project's builder, the Robert Green Company.
This update follows our most recent I-Team Investigation three weeks ago on September 26 that revealed city leaders were refusing to answer questions from the public about the project citing concerns over 'possible litigation." SEE THAT REPORT HERE.
This council update is notable. Mayor Linda Evans stated during a city council meeting on January 17 the luxury resort developer, Robert Green of the Robert Green Company, would appear for updates to the city council every month on the long-delayed project.
Green only had one more city council update the following month in February. This will be the first such monthly council update in eight months.
The project was supposed to be built by 2019. Now partially built, TALUS developers have struggled to win financing as construction costs soared and interest rates have risen. The only work underway at the site since July of 2022 has been work on some single-family homes. The project's core development of a spa, conference center, and new golf clubhouse has been halted.
The I-Team reported in May that the city had issued a 60-day deadline to the Robert Green Company for the project's construction financing to be approved. READ THAT REPORT HERE.
The city issued a statement after our latest I-Team investigation standing by Green as the developer "secures the financing needed to get the project completed."
The city council will consider a fifth TALUS Amendment on Tuesday evening. The city has written up this latest agreement to change financing terms and deadlines with the developer. If approved by the council, the new deal will replace the city’s fourth Amendment which dates back two years to October 12, 2021.
A city staff report said the new Talus Amendment #5 would reset financial penalties for missed deadlines, and bring new lenders into the project to address rising interest rates and higher labor and material costs. It would also slightly reduce tax rebates from the city to the developer while giving the city more oversight to make sure contractors are paid on time.
The new financing deal includes $10 million dollars to pay off subcontractor mechanics liens by general contractors Granite Construction, R.D. Olson Construction, and Poppy Bank.
City documents say the developer is near closing on loans from Lieef Real Estate Energy Partners LLC for about $170 million, and approximately $95 million in bond sales through Ziegler Investment Banking.
The documents also allow the developer to show good faith diligence in closing escrow on the recapitalization loans by no later than January 1st, 2024. Still, they can ask to extend until June of 2024 if they’re not secured.
A new clubhouse and conference center is imagined by the end of next year, with the first luxury hotel completed by March 2025 and the second by December 2026. Residents will eventually benefit from the completed project by realizing city tax revenues and the transfer of the city's SilverRock Golf Course to the developers which will save the city an estimated $600,000 annually in course maintenance and operation costs, according to a city report.
Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of this La Quinta development.
READ THE ENTIRE PROPOSED FIFTH AMENDMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT DEAL BELOW.
