An 850-acre slice of Aurora suburbia is now at the center of a high-dollar showdown, as the developer behind one of the city’s largest planned communities says the nation’s biggest homebuilder walked away from roughly $51 million in agreed lot purchases. Grandview Partners alleges D.R. Horton refused to close on two sets of finished lots after raising complaints about quality and timing, and the developer has sued to claw back deposits and the unpaid purchase price, a move that could slow construction near Denver International Airport.
Windler at a glance
The disputed parcels sit inside Windler, an 850-acre master-planned neighborhood off E-470 that Grandview says is ultimately slated for about 5,800 residential units and millions of square feet of retail and industrial space. According to Grandview Partners, Windler is roughly four miles from Denver International Airport and is planned to include a mix of single-family and multi-family homes.
Planning and design teams working on the project describe Windler as a major master-planned development for northeast Aurora. PCS Group highlights a network of parks and a central 24-acre Discovery Park in its materials on the community.
Grandview’s lawsuit
In an April court filing, Grandview says D.R. Horton declined to complete two purchases that together total about $51 million. That includes an earlier contract for roughly $24.6 million covering 180 lots and a later $26.8 million tranche of 190 lots that Grandview says was never paid. The lawsuit also seeks about $5.1 million in earnest-money deposits and other damages, according to BusinessDen.
Grandview says it delivered finished lots in early March and made corrections after D.R. Horton complained about lot conditions, before the builder ultimately declined to tender the purchase price.
D.R. Horton pushed back
D.R. Horton has its own version of the story. The builder argued last year that Grandview missed a contract deadline and that the purchase agreements allowed D.R. Horton to recover its deposits if the lots were not ready on time…