Developers are hoping to restart construction on the Uptown 240 development in Dillon next month.

Construction on the development — an 80-unit “luxury” condominium project on Lake Dillon Drive at the gateway to the Dillon town core — began in June 2019. But for the past 10-plus months, the site has been quiet after construction came to a sudden halt following the arrival of the pandemic to the area in March.

Danilo Ottoborgo, who will serve as the owner and operator of the complex along with family members, said his team is excited to get things moving again.

“The financing group that we designed to take it through the completion of the project faced their own economic impacts from COVID that were too great for them to continue on as a business,” Ottoborgo said. “… We’re in closing mode for our new capital for us to continue going vertical for the project.”

Dillon has been keeping a close eye on the development, in part due to a number of public improvement guarantees owed to the town as part of the development agreement approved in April 2019. As part of the agreement, Uptown 240 developers were required to complete a number of infrastructure projects on Lake Dillon Drive and Buffalo Street, including improvements to roadways, drainage, sidewalks, lighting and more.

Town Manager Nathan Johnson said the developers still owed the town more than $260,000 to secure construction on the public improvements. During a Dillon Town Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19, officials agreed to amend the development agreement to give the developers more time, requiring that they begin construction on the improvements no later than June 1.

“We don’t really have a whole lot of leverage if we wanted to not do this extension,” council member Brad Bailey said. “If we said, ‘No, we’re not going to extend this,’ we’d have no way to collect the dollars, and it would be even more difficult for Uptown 240 to get new financing and to restart. … We’re just being a good neighbor at this point. We can’t be a good neighbor for 10 years obviously, but I think it’s a smart thing to do to give them a little more breathing room.”

Other council members agreed.

“Let’s help them do whatever we can to make them successful,” council member Steven Milroy said. “And hopefully it restarts in February or soon thereafter, and we can see it finished.”

Ottoborgo voiced confidence that construction should be back up and running soon. He said there were two phases of recommencement, which include an administrative phase and remobilization for hard construction. He said the development group is ready on the administrative end and that construction crews should be back to work next month.

“A soft timeline should be February, where people start to see activity on-site,” Ottoborgo said.

The development group previously hoped to resume construction sometime in November.

Ottoborgo said he couldn’t name the project’s new financier until the agreement was finalized but said he was excited about the partnership. Between COVID-19 and weather considerations, Ottoborgo also declined to give an estimate on when the project would be completed. Dillon officials postulated the group might have to seek a one-year extension on the development permit.

Once finished, Uptown 240 will feature 80-residential units, including some deed-restricted units, along with amenities like a fitness room and ground-floor restaurant and retail spaces.

Ottoborgo, who formerly lived below Adriano’s Bistro — the family’s restaurant they demolished to make room for Uptown 240 — said he’s looking forward to moving back onto the site.

“It’s exciting because I’ll be a resident there; the Ottoborgo family will be residents there again at the property,” Ottoborgo said. “Generationally, now we’ll remain in Dillon. And I’m excited to see that happen for other families now since we are able and fortunate enough to be in a position to provide homes for other families in Dillon. That’s the best part of this project for me.”