Developer Martin Lind swaps out partners on Raindance project

WINDSOR — Developer Martin Lind has changed partners in Raindance, a 1,133-acre community planned in Windsor.

Lind and Chicago-based DRW Holdings, and its real estate arm Convexity Properties, formed the entity Raindance Land Co. LLC to buy out Denver-based Larrick Development Co., which for the past three years owned a 40 percent stake in approximately 720 acres of the vacant land earmarked for the community. That deal came to $7.5 million, according to public records.

Raindance Land Co. also paid $11.2 million for the other 60 percent stake held by Lind’s Raindance Holdings LLC, which had purchased the land from Lind’s Raindance Aquatics Investments LLC for the same amount on the same day, according to Weld County records. It is unclear if Lind has other investment partners in those entities.

Lind declined to comment on the transaction, saying through his secretary that it was simply a “personal deal.” Officials at DRW/Convexity Properties, responding to an e-mail requesting information on the land sale, said only, “We don’t have any details to share on the property at this time.” DRW offers options, futures, derivatives and real estate properties trading services.

Don Larrick, a principal of Larrick Development Co., confirmed his company sold its interest in the land.

“I dealt with Martin. It was a friendly deal, we weren’t coerced,” he said. “We’ve got other development projects in the works, and we decided to sell when this deal met our investment objectives.”

The Raindance project, originally called Water Valley West, has been on the drawing board for several years. The land is located west of Lind’s Water Valley community that includes the Pelican Lakes golf course; north of Crossroads Boulevard; and east of Weld County Road 13.

Plans for Raindance were first submitted to the town of Windsor’s planning department in 2013 and have undergone several revisions, the latest in July 2015. The most recent plan includes 2,792 living units — single-family homes and apartments, 42 acres of mixed-use neighborhood commercial at the south end of the property and the Raindance National Golf Club being designed by PGA player Fred Funk, at the north end of the property. Earlier this year, Lind announced that it was likely the PGA Champions Tour would hold an event there in 2018, but later said if Raindance was not completed in time, the tour event might shift to Pelican Lakes golf course.

Scott Ballstadt, Windsor’s planning director, said the department hasn’t heard from Lind’s group recently.

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