More than 60 people packed into Pug Ryan’s this past Saturday, when Detroit developer Jake Porritt was answering questions about his plans for a new downtown Dillon.
Question: Will existing property owners pay for hundreds of lakeview condos, also known as the “branded residence” where Arapahoe Café and Ptarmigan Lodge are today?
Answer: Porritt says no. A town-approved metro district will subsidize the condos, plus a parking structure, workforce housing and a new town hall.
Question: Can the lakeview condos be four stories instead of five?
Answer: Yes – with a “but.” The condo complex can be shorter, but it will lose public amenities like a new park and views of the lake. Under existing code Porritt Group is limited to four stories, meaning the developer must build out instead of up to make it financially viable. The metro district allows for a taller building, but demands public amenities.
Question: Will Porritt Group finish Uptown 240 before the lakeview project? (Uptown 240 is the only property the group owns outright.)
Answer: No. To Porritt and his team these projects are separate, although they would likely be part of the same metro district. This is where a public petition comes into play. The petition demands a public vote on the lakeview condos this November. Town council approved the condos by split vote earlier this year. The metro district was adopted beforehand.
About the Uptown 240… you might see another crane there soon. Porritt Group needs to pull up the foundation. It no longer meets code. Another crane there was an eyesore for months before it came down in 2022.