Developer economics, with Falcon’s hand on the controls.
Rainier Development is a Seattle developer whose niche is turning vacant offices and hotels into apartments and building ground-up affordable housing financed with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) and HUD-backed debt. Its past projects include Playa Del Oro in Los Angeles, the Burnett Apartments and Senior Artist Colony in Long Beach, Andalusia in Van Nuys, and the Freight Residences and The Venue in Denver.
Falcon’s vehicle, Rainier FCRE, LLC, holds the investor side of a joint venture with Rainier Development formed in October 2025. The joint venture takes the general-partner position in each project, so Falcon’s investors share in the developer’s fees, promote and distributions across the portfolio, not in one building. Rainier’s people on the venture are Edson Gallaudet, President, Chris Seymour, Vice President of Projects and Operations, and Charles Clark, Vice President of Construction.
Falcon’s controls
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Two seats, one vote each. Major decisions need both members, and the two-person investment committee must be unanimous.
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Money moves with two signatures. A dual-signature master account, monthly reports within ten business days, quarterly statements within 45 days, and an annual budget that Falcon approves.
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First look at new projects. Falcon has a right of first refusal on new Rainier projects and can remove the manager for cause.
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Falcon keeps the books. Richard runs the investor ledger, distributions and quarterly reporting for the vehicle.
Houston, Denver, Seattle.
Status as reported in Falcon’s 2026 investor updates and since.
Levy Apartments, Houston
A former Sheraton hotel at 2828 Southwest Freeway, beside Levy Park, converted into 228 workforce apartments. Open, leasing and producing in-place cash flow.
Fox Street, Denver
A new-build affordable community at 4159 Fox Street, next to the Fox Street light-rail station one stop from Union Station. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority awarded the project its low-income housing tax credits in February 2026, and the tax-credit closing is now expected in early 2027.
Vance Building, Seattle
A downtown office-to-housing conversion at 1402 3rd Avenue, planned as affordable housing and using Seattle’s sales-tax exemption and historic-property abatement. Financing and the partner structure are being finalized.
Most empty offices will not work as housing. We look for the few that do.
Only a small share of office buildings convert well. Rainier’s criteria, written into its offering memorandum, keep the joint venture inside that slice.
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Small floor plates, roughly 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, so every unit sits on glass with little dead interior space.
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Light and air. No more than 36 feet from core to window, floor-to-floor heights of ten feet or more, and C-, H- or L-shaped plans that let daylight in.
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By-right change of use, so entitlement risk stays low.
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A skin that stays. Buildings whose exterior and windows do not need wholesale replacement.
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Short remaining leases, so the building can be emptied for conversion.
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Incentives that move the numbers. Property-tax abatements, historic credits and sales-tax exemptions, on a purchase basis well below what comparable buildings trade for.
This page describes an existing Falcon vehicle for the general reader. It is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Investors in Rainier FCRE receive their reporting, documents and K-1s through the investor portal.
Questions about Rainier?
Existing investors: everything is in the portal. Everyone else: Richard is a call away.