Meet the New Owners in Whispering Pines
- Share via
At least 22 parcels totaling more than 100 acres in and around Whispering Pines area within Joshua Tree National Park have changed hands since 2021, spurring concerns among neighbors over potential development. Here’s what public records and other sources reveal about the owners, who have declined to discuss their plans for the properties:
— Two parcels were purchased by Peter Nawara of Greenwich, CT, a former employee of real estate investment company Starwood Capital Group, and managing partner of Darkhorse Tactical Investments of Greenwich.
People with hotel industry ties are among buyers and entities that have snapped up 22 parcels within national park boundaries; plans unclear.
— One parcel was bought by Darkhorse partner John Woodruff and one by partner Saheer Mathrani.
— One parcel was bought by Sahil Abbi, co-founder of a company called Wetstone that describes itself as a development platform for the seafloor minerals value chain. Abbi and Mathrani were previously partners in Gasp, a New York-based creative studio and incubator.
The remaining lots were purchased by 17 separate Delaware-based limited liability corporations (LLCs) with links to Darkhorse partners, family members or business associates. Of these:
— Seven of the LLCs list a mailing address of a Greenwich, Conn., property owned by Nawara, his wife and an LLC. Real estate listings show this as a six-bedroom, 8,540-square foot estate in a gated community on the border of Greenwich and Armonk, N.Y.
— Two of the LLCs that provided Nawara’s address to the assessor were until 2022 controlled by Sophia Kanavos, according to business transfer records.
— Two other LLCs that provided Nawara’s address to the assessor filed deeds of trust that were signed by John R. Ceriale on behalf of the LLCs.
— Three LLCs list as their address a home in Greenwich, Conn., that was formerly owned by Woodruff and his then-wife, who sold the property for more than $3.9 million in 2023.
— Two LLCs provided the address of a penthouse condo in Brooklyn that is owned by yet another LLC, but which Mathrani also provided as his mailing address when he purchased a Whispering Pines property in his name.
— One LLC provided a mailing address of a residence at the Four Seasons Surf Club in Surfside, Fla., that was previously owned by former WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani, who sold the residence for $21 million in 2023. Sandeep Mathrani also in 2023 signed a county Land Use Services Department document stating he owned the property purchased by the LLC.
— Four LLCs provided a mailing address of a penthouse condo inside the Miami Beach Edition Hotel that’s owned by Richard Pesin. Pesin was president and COO of Castle Point LLC, a Miami company managed by Sandeep Mathrani that he dissolved in October 2024.
— One of the LLCs that provided Pesin’s address to the assessor lists a different address on the deed — a Chicago home owned by Liz Holland, CEO and general counsel of Abbell Associates, a private real estate company that primarily redevelops shopping centers.
In 2023, Holland signed a county Land Use Services Department document stating she owned the property purchased by the LLC. Holland formerly served with Sandeep Mathrani on the board of the International Council of Shopping Centers and was also a registered agent of Castle Point LLC, public records state. She didn’t return a call seeking comment.
