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Local developer pitches alternative to parking garage, grocery store and restaurant proposed in Dillon

A rendering provided by Developer Jake Porritt shows the building that would house the parking structure, restaurant and grocery store that he is proposing in Dillon. A local developer has also proposed an alternative project in the area that would include retail uses on the first floor and two stories of residential units, including workforce housing.
Porritt Group/Courtesy illustration

A local developer has pitched an alternative plan for a project proposed by Developer Jake Porritt, but some elected officials in town believe there is room for both projects to move forward.

The Dillon Urban Renewal Authority, which is composed of the same members as the Dillon Town Council, considered the two proposals at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The proposals were received after the Urban Renewal Authority issued a legal notice in December seeking redevelopment proposals for town-owned parcels near the corner of Lake Dillon Drive and East La Bonte Street.

The parcels identified in the legal notice include town-owned land that directly surrounds the footprint of the building where Pug Ryan’s Brewery is currently located, the parking lot at the corner of the two streets and a few spots of street-side parking along East La Bonte Street.



Porritt, who said he is under contract to buy the Pug Ryan’s building and an adjacent building known as the Payne building, has proposed constructing a structure with a parking garage, grocery store and restaurant at the site. His proposal led the Urban Renewal Authority to issue the legal notice.

“In favor of our project, we have adjoining properties on either side of the property that is in question, and we’re intending to build something that creates efficiency in parking as a public service,” Porritt said at the meeting. “It’s public parking. That’s the primary focus of what this project is.”



A map conceptualizes the possible redevelopment of what is now Pug Ryan’s Brewery and the Payne building in Dillon. A representative of Developer Jake Porritt presented the concept to the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.
Town of Dillon/Courtesy illustration

Porritt wrote in his proposal that the parking garage would include about 290 spaces, easing over-burdened streets during amphitheater concerts. He said the proposal would also help remedy blight in the town by eliminating a “functionally obsolete” building and replacing it with businesses that generate tax revenue. His proposal would also turn Village Place into a loop connected to East La Bonte Street.

The alternative proposal was brought forward by Lake Dillon Place LLC, which lists Dillon resident Laura Johnson and local Developer Scott Downen as managers. The proposal calls for retail space on the first floor with 30 residential units, 15% of which would be workforce housing units, on the two stories above. 

Lake Dillon Place has offered to buy the parking lot from the town for $1.4 million. Its proposal is only for corner parking lot parcels, not the other parcels included in the legal notice. The project would also include the required parking spots for the associated uses.

“We have listened through all these meetings through the last six months to people (talking) about what they want and how they would like to see this parcel redeveloped,” Downen told the Urban Renewal Authority. “It’s clearly in the vision of the town to have something there other than a parking structure.”

Downen, the former owner of Columbine Hills Concrete, has been involved in developing other properties in Dillon, including the Sail Lofts and the Dillon Ridge Apartments, both of which include workforce housing units. 

In its proposal, Lake Dillon Place notes that its project will not require a metro district like Porritt’s project does, so property owners will not face additional taxes from the properties in the district.

While the Lake Dillon Place proposal did not include any drawings or renderings of what the building might look like, it suggested looking at Sail Lofts 2 as a “preliminary site plan,” which it envisions adapting.

“We are proposing a project that would be designed and constructed by local investors and developers and contractors who are experienced with building successful projects in mountain communities … most specifically in Dillon, Colorado,” Johnson said. “We will not only invite public input into the designs from the beginning, we will also invite public investment into the project.”

Pug Ryan’s Brewery in Dillon is pictured on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. A mixed-use building with workforce housing, parking and retail is proposed to replace this structure and a shopping center next to it with a mixed-use building at the corner of Lake Dillon Drive and East La Bonte Street as part of Developer Jake Porritt’s plans to redevelop portions of downtown.
Ryan Spencer/Summit Daily News

Porritt noted that his plans for redevelopment along that street corner would create a space of a similar size to the corner parking lot parcel, where he suggested that a project such as that proposed by Lake Dillon Place could be constructed.

Porritt said that the parking structure that he is proposing for the area could benefit nearby residential projects by providing “auxiliary parking” that reduces the cost of constructing additional parking at the residences.

“Exactly what they’re contemplating could be done on that parcel just on the other side of the parking deck, and we’d get all the benefits of the apartments that they’re suggesting they want to build, and it would be done more efficiently,” Porritt said.

Several of the Urban Renewal Authority members present at the meeting expressed interest in trying to support both the Porritt project and the Lake Dillon Place project. Members Carolyn Skowyra and Kyle Hendricks were absent from the meeting.

Member Dana Christiansen said he would like to see both projects completed, with the Lake Dillon Place proposal moving to the empty parcel created when Porritt Group executes its redevelopment plans in the area.

“I think there is a way to do both without competing over that one specific piece of land because Jake’s project will create a space about the same size just adjacent to the parking lot on LaBonte,” Christiansen said.

Member John Woods said that he has “always wanted tons of developers to come into Dillon and to recognize our potential. … That’s what my goal always was — was to have the whole world know about Dillon and come here and help us be better.”

Woods said that he does not feel that a parking structure is the best use for the area in question, which he said is the second-most valuable space in Dillon, with the property where the Best Western is currently located being the most valuable.

Member Oliver Luck said that he believes that one of the keys to successfully redeveloping the Dillon town core is in demolishing the Payne building, which he described as an “eye sore” that blocks the views of the Dillon Reservoir. But Luck also said that the Lake Dillon Place proposal is “very attractive.” He concluded, “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do to sort out how they should all play out.”

Members Rachel Tuyn and Renee Imamura both agreed that they would like to see both projects move forward.

The Dillon Urban Renewal Authority determined that it would like to hear more about the proposals from both development groups at its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28.


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