1 week Ago By Ryan Spencer
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The Dillon Town Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday, Sept. 10, on a development agreement that could allow construction to resume on a condominium project that has been stalled for five years. Town staff have been working to try to help the Porritt Group “restart the failed Uptown 240 project,” at 240 Lake Dillon Drive, according to a state memo written by Dillon Town Engineer Dan Burroughs.
The 80-unit condominium project formerly known as Uptown 240 broke ground in June 2019 . But the project’s original financiers backed out during the pandemic, and the foundation of the project has sat unfinished for years . The previous development agreement for the project was with Uptown 240 LLC and is now null and void after that company filed for bankruptcy, Burroughs wrote in the memo.
Developer Jake Porritt, of the Porritt Group, purchased the property for $12.75 million during a bankruptcy sale earlier this year. After purchasing the project in February, Porritt reportedly told the town that he planned to mobilize crews within 60 days to demolish the existing structure so that construction at the site could resume.
But issues arose with permitting the project under building codes that had been updated since the original plans for the condominium structure were approved more than five years earlier. The project was further delayed this summer because Dillon’s former town attorney resigned , leaving the position empty until last month and stalling progress on much town business, including the development agreement. Under the development agreement, the town could reimburse the developer up to $1 million for predevelopment items including revisions to the construction drawings to meet current codes , removal of the existing concrete foundations and walls and mobilizing the tower crane to build the project.
The developer has also agreed to impose a covenant on each unit which will generate a 1% real estate transfer assessment on the sale of each unit in perpetuity, Burrough wrote in the staff memo. The 1% real estate transfer fee will pay the town back for the $1 million contribution over time, and there is no limit to the amount of money that the fee can collect, according to the staff memo. The development agreement would require the Porritt Group to complete construction of the condominium project by Oct.
31, 2028. The developer would also be required to complete certain public improvements on three of the streets surrounding the project, including concrete sidewalks, street lighting, accessible ramps and a new fire hydrant, according to the staff memo. Porritt — who is proposing a major redevelopment of the Dillon town core , including a controversial waterfront structure and a mixed-use building with workforce housing, a parking garage and a grocery store — has indicated that he plans to rebrand the Uptown 240 project.
The regular Dillon Town Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall.
Another development project at 103 Main St. will also be before the Town Council for a vote Tuesday, according to the agenda. At that property, another development group — Dillon Development Inc.
— has proposed cutting down the hilly site to side-walk level to construct a new mixed-use building with five residential units and retail space, which could become a restaurant. Because Dillon Development Inc. only owns the building footprint at 103 Main St.
, while the town owns the land that surrounds the building, the Dillon Town Council has to vote to transfer it to the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority for the development proposal to progress..
