A presentation from developers on Uptown 240’s future planned for Tuesday’s Dillon Town Council meeting did not occur as expected. Developers alerted the board that they couldn’t speak openly yet, which will delay their update until the next Dillon Town Council meeting on Sept. 6.

“We will not have a presentation as we planned to,” Town Manager Nathan Johnson said.

The new lender told the town they want to be very transparent but were not in a position to be transparent for Tuesday’s meeting, Johnson said.

“I am very disheartened about it,” Johnson said about the canceled presentation. The town has been in the dark about the project, he added.

Development on the planned 80-unit luxury condominium project in downtown Dillon stopped in April 2020 when the pandemic began because the project lost significant amounts of funding.

Since then, the only major action taken at the site was the removal of the red crane looming over the property at the corner of Buffalo Street and Lake Dillon Drive. Developers have spent the past few months seeking funding and securing a lender. RMS Cranes removed the crane in the first half of June. Danillo Ottoborgo, president of Uptown 240, described the removal as temporary, saying he has plans to resume construction as soon as finances can be secured. 

Ottoborgo wrote in an email Tuesday that he expects to receive the final loan details this week.

“After completing this step, we will be more than 90% of the way through the closing process with only legal paperwork remaining,” he wrote. “We are looking forward to receiving one of our last files requiring acceptance.”

On Wednesday, Dillon Mayor Carolyn Skowyra said the town still wants to work with developers to see the project finished. 

The message from developers remains similar to what they have said about the project for the past year, claiming that the project is moving forward. Ottorborgo said in early June that he’s nearly finished with the final items required to get funding to cover costs owed on the project. The town received bank letters from Ottoborgo all the way back on March 23 stating a lien had been secured for a bridge loan. Town staff said the loan would likely cover incurred costs and pave the way to close on financing for further construction.

Johnson said at prior council meetings that the new developer seems more interested in communicating with the town, although he noted on Aug. 16 that the town is still somewhat in the dark.

The project is coming up on a deadline. Should Ottoborgo receive the bridge loan, construction will have until Aug. 30 to resume, according to an agreement with Town Council, but that will not be the first deadline the town has given the project. Previously, Ottoborgo had until Dec. 31, 2021, to close on the bridge loan. A past Dillon staff summary stated Ottoborgo anticipated receiving a bridge loan at the end of 2021 and another construction loan in the first quarter of 2022.

Since Dec. 31 passed without Ottoborgo closing on the loan, the town has reserved the right to remove construction materials from town-owned rights of way, according to an amendment to the original development agreement. The town hasn’t utilized its right to remove any equipment. The town earned that right after Dec. 31 passed without a bridge loan being secured.