Radisson Figure Surfaces in Arizona
Radisson Hotel developer Carroll Davis, whose bankrupt real estate firm lost the hotel to federal regulators in the spring, is nothing if not tenacious.
Davis left San Diego in May after closing his San Diego Diversified Properties offices, leaving even attorney C. Hugh Friedman, serving as trustee of Davis’ bankrupt firm, in the dark as to his whereabouts.
But Davis didn’t wander far: He has emerged in Mesa, Ariz., where he is serving as a “liaison” between developer Joe Woods, owner of the Radisson Hotel there, and Great West Hotels, the management company running the hotel.
“We are in the process of starting over,” Davis said last week. “I don’t think we’ll say we’re done with San Diego, but I don’t see too many opportunities (there) right now.”
Banker Stays in the Background
Canadian businessman Milton Sorokin usually operates on his own, so banking industry observers were somewhat surprised when it was learned that Sorokin is backing the dissidents who are trying to take control of Crown Bancorp in Coronado.
They were surprised because that’s all he’s doing, backing them. He is seeking no director’s seat or management position, although it’s generally thought that he’ll invest money in the troubled bank holding company if some or all of the dissident group’s members are elected to the board.
There’s a reason Sorokin has remained in the background. Friends and business associates claim that, after California Heritage Bank--where Sorokin was chairman--was seized by regulators last fall, Sorokin took ill from the stress and the media attention, and landed in the hospital.
No Shake-Up, BSD Insists
BSD Bancorp officials insist that nothing akin to a management shake-up should be read into last month’s announcement that Chairman James S. Brown will step down as chairman of The Bank of San Diego, BSD’s largest subsidiary, which since last year has operated under a regulatory cease-and-desist order.
Indeed, they say, Brown will remain as head of BSD Bancorp.
Besides, officials quickly point out, Brown did the same thing last year when he stepped down as chairman of Coast Bank, BSD’s Long Beach-based subsidiary.
In each case, another director has moved up to chairman: Orange County developer Robert Graham at Coast Bank and well-known car dealer Robert Townsend at The Bank of San Diego.
