Ginn Company indirectly reacts to Vail-area merger report

VAIL — The Colorado Independent’s report Wednesday on the possible merging of mega-mountain real estate interests in the Vail Valley — between the proposed Battle Mountain private ski and golf community near Minturn and the existing Cordillera residential golf resort near Edwards — didn’t elicit any comment on our site.

But when Florida real estate blogger Toby Tobin took note of TCI’s report as further evidence of the unraveling of “GINNdom” — his term for the former golf-resort empire, mostly in the Southeast, of Battle Mountain developer Bobby Ginn — a spokesman for the Ginn Company did respond.

First Tobin’s take:

“Ginn’s late 1990s rebirth in Florida gained headway when he became financially wedded with [Philadelphia-based real estate investment firm Lubert-Adler]. Now the marriage is on the rocks. The GINNdom is unraveling. Ginn no longer operates the several communities and resorts. Lubert-Adler brought Reynolds Communities, Noble Investments and others in as the new operators. Two South Carolina communities, Cobblestone Park near Columbia and RiverTowne near Charleston reportedly are under contract with new buyers.

“Now, Lubert-Adler [also a Cordillera investor] appears to be bringing its two troubled Vail area investments together. Will two wrongs make a right? Or will it take three?”

Now a Ginn Company response to Tobin’s post:

“We are not currently in discussions with Cordillera regarding any merger or partnership. However, we have had conversations with numerous parties who are interested in being part of this development and we will continue to do so in the future. Our primary focus is working with the Town of Minturn and other regulatory agencies to continue to move this project forward.”

Well, somebody needs to tell Cordillera, because The Colorado Independent was simply quoting a July 30 letter and vision statement sent to homeowners who are not currently golf club members urging them to snap up memberships because they will become much more sought-after once Battle Mountain gets built and is renamed Cordillera Mountain:

“We are in discussions to participate in the development of this project [Battle Mountain] and have talked about the idea of renaming the mountain ‘Cordillera Mountain.’”

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