The developer who has proposed a major redevelopment of the Dillon town core presented the conceptual design of a workforce housing project to the Dillon Town Council on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The workforce housing project Developer Jake Porritt is proposing would be located at the southwest corner of Buffalo Street and Lake Dillon Drive. It would be a five-story structure with about 13,0000 square feet of retail space and a residential lobby on the first floor with residences above.

“We can do this project. It is something we can deliver,” Porritt said Feb. 25. “We know it’s affordable. We know we can meet affordable requirements, and it is something that has been in the works for a long time.”

Porritt said at the meeting that how many units the workforce housing structure would include still has to be negotiated with the town and depends in part on whether the workforce housing would include area median income caps or only require that residents work in the county for 30 hours a week. The conceptual designs he presented show about 100 units in the building, including a mix of studio apartments and one- and two-bedroom units. 

There would be a parking garage below with about 136 spaces as well as surface parking with about 76 spaces, according to the conceptual designs. The designs also show an about 1,300 square foot patio and 6,000 square feet of open space.

Porritt said he plans to use modular construction for the workforce housing development to help keep the building affordable. Modular construction is a method of building that involves constructing components of a structure in a factory and assembling them on-site. 

“Typical modular construction only saves you time and doesn’t save you dollars,” Porritt said. “But in the mountains it turns out it saves you time and money.”

In the mountains, it is more difficult to find skilled laborers than elsewhere in the country, Porritt said. That means for modular construction, he said he can keep costs to about $250 to $300 per square foot, compared to traditional stick framing which would cost $450 per square foot or more.

Mayor Carolyn Skowyra raised concern that other communities in the mountains have had issues with modular construction. Skowyra said, “It doesn’t seem to work in the mountains, although it may be cost-effective to think about.”

Porritt said he has a level of “intimacy” with the company that would be providing the modular construction. Noting that his company will ultimately own what is constructed, he said, “We know the finish quality. We know the engineers. From start to finish, we have a good idea of our ability to deploy and deliver it.”

Porritt also said that the workforce housing project will be made possible with assistance from the metro district, which will help offset the costs of public infrastructure such as the parking, sewers and roads related to the project.

A metro district is a quasi-governmental entity formed to provide sewers, streets, water, parks or other services. Metro districts can only fund public infrastructure associated with a development, not private parts of a development.

“This project, but for the metro district, would not be able to be accomplished,” Porritt said. “This project is something that the town identifies regularly as something that the town needs and wants to accomplish, which is to create housing stock in town. It revitalizes the town core, which is another one of the missions.”

The Dillon Town Council is scheduled to vote at its March 11 meeting on an amendment to the inclusionary area of the metro district so that it includes the land where the workforce housing project is proposed.

Megan Murphy, an attorney representing the metro district, said the amendment is limited in scope as it intends to bring the inclusionary area in line with actual development plans in Dillon. She said the amendment is not meant to open the “floodgates” to changes to the metro district’s service plan.

Skowyra questioned why a metro district is necessary to construct this workforce housing project when other developments in town have included workforce housing units without being associated with a metro district. 

Porritt said that interest rates currently are “excessive.” He said that there also are costs to the land and infrastructure, such as creating additional parking for the site so that there can be retail space there that will generate sales tax revenue for the town.

Skowyra also raised concern that Porritt had not promised in writing to provide workforce housing to the town. She said, “as far as I’m concerned there is no plan until there are actual applications in front of us. People can say anything they want, but until we have something in writing in front of us committed to the town, a plan doesn’t mean anything.”

Council member Dana Christiansen pushed back on this, stating that Porritt has promised workforce housing as long as he’s been pitching projects in town, and has proposed workforce housing projects in the past.

Porritt noted that his project is an “as-of-right” construction, meaning that it conforms with town codes and therefore would only need the approval of the Dillon Zoning and Planning Commission to move forward. He said he is proposing the plan before the council to seek feedback from the council and members of the public.

Porritt said that the 35 mills of property tax that the metro district plans to levy would be “taxing ourselves so that we can create public parking to support that endeavor.” He said that those taxes would be “impacting our own lease revenues, and we’re happy to do that.”

Summit Daily News did not receive a response Monday, March 3, to questions emailed to Porritt about whether the 35 mills of property tax would be passed along to those paying rent at the workforce housing units and how that would affect the units’ affordability.

Porritt has also proposed other projects in town, including a condominium project where the Best Western and Arapahoe Cafe currently stand and a restaurant, grocery store and parking garage where Pug Ryan’s Brewery and a structure known as the Payne Building currently stand. He said all of these projects are “as-of-right projects” that will not require the Dillon Town Council’s approval to complete. He also owns the incomplete condominium project previously known as Uptown 240, which he plans to complete under the name Waterview Residences.

“Every single project we’re proposing — there are four projects — all four are based on an as-of-right construction,” Porritt said. “We’re not asking any favors from the town. We’re not asking for any adjustments. These are private property developments with no additional requirements, and we’re meeting the town code by ordinance.”