This developer sounds like a gold medalist in the Special Olympics of Real Estate Development.
We used to call the nearest large city “where developers go to die”.
They were out-of-towners who read the local media and the Chamber of Commerce puff pieces.
By the time they realized they were in a zoo, the lions and tigers had taken them apart limb by limb.
Never believe anything you read in the mass media—it could cost you your money or your life.