Developer Jake Porritt has proposed a new conceptual design for a grocery store, restaurant and parking structure at the corner of Lake Dillon Drive and East LaBonte Street in Dillon.

The structure is a scaled-down version of what Porritt had previously pitched for the property where Pug Ryan’s Brewery and the three-story Payne building stand. A representative of the developer, Jesse Grewal, met with the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority on Tuesday, Nov. 12, to discuss the proposal.

“It’s a little bit of an evolution of what this body saw a few months ago,” Grewal said. “Two big changes from the initial concept are — one, there is no workforce housing incorporated into this project and, two, the scale of the project has been significantly reduced.”

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">

<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">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.</figcaption><figcaption>Town of Dillon/Courtesy illustration</figcaption>

</figure>

Porritt’s company, JGJP Dillon, had previously proposed a private-public partnership with the town to construct 143 workforce housing units, a 445-space parking structure and over 21,000 square feet of commercial space, including a grocery store, at the Pug Ryan’s site.

The new proposal Grewal presented Tuesday scales down the plans for the Pug Ryan’s site to include a grocery store, a multi-level restaurant and a three-level parking structure with 289 spaces.

Grewal said that the changes to the project at the Pug Ryan’s site became necessary since the metropolitan districts created to help fund redevelopment will generate less revenue after Dillon residents voted down a major mixed-use project. He said the proposal also aims to respond to feedback from residents about the scale of development they want in town.

The referendum vote in October overturned the Dillon Town Council’s approval of a five-story project at 626 Lake Dillon Drive — across the street from the Pug Ryan’s site — that would have contained 200 condominium units, three restaurants, retail space and more. 

The original plans for the Pug Ryan’s site would have been over 60 feet tall, but the new proposal has a height closer to 35 feet, Grewal said. The new proposal also includes a public rooftop park.

“The main aspects that we were trying to achieve with this project were to bring additional parking capacity into the town to relieve parking stress on the surrounding area and to bring a community neighborhood focused retail, namely a grocery store restaurant and small retail spaces,” Grewal said.

Dillon Senior Town Planner Ned West told the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority, which is composed of the same members as the Dillon Town Council, that JGJP Dillon is proposing a public-private partnership for the project at the Pug Ryan’s site.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson explained that public-private partnerships like this will be necessary for the town core’s redevelopment because, unlike most other towns, the town of Dillon in most cases owns everything outside the existing building footprint. That can make redeveloping a site with new structures difficult without the town’s help.

West said that the proposal for the Pug Ryan’s site is only a concept at this point and has not yet reached the stage where it would be scrutinized against the town’s land use codes.

“This is a concept, and we aren’t getting into the nitty gritty of what the siding is, what the exact building height is — the exact things,” West said. “It’s a high-level concept.”

The proposal for the Pug Ryan’s site contemplates narrowing Lake Dillon Drive to provide wide pedestrian boulevards, West said. It would also include a through road for Village Place, opening up the town center to improve circulation, including creating a better pick-up and drop-off area for the local daycare center, he said.

The parking structure would include the required number of parking spots for the retail space and the grocery store, plus about 100 surplus spots that could help with parking for other uses like the amphitheater, West said. There would also be an unused lot that could become additional parking, a park or be developed into housing, he said.

Both West and Grewal hinted that the grocery store interested in occupying the new space could prove to be a draw for the community.

“This retail space, which is proposed to be a grocery store, is a familiar chain,” West said. “We aren’t at liberty to speak about it, but we feel like from what we’re hearing that it would be a draw, not only as an amenity for the local community but actually a draw for the surrounding community as well.”

Overall, council members expressed interest in continuing to explore the concept for the Pug Ryan’s site, but also said that they wanted to hear more feedback from members of the public before things advanced too far.

Council member Dana Christiansen said that that part of town especially is in need of redevelopment. Christiansen said that the Payne building there could be considered “urban blight” because of its condition.

Mayor Carolyn Skowyra said that she wants to hold a public forum as soon as possible to hear what residents of the town think about the plans for the site.

“There is an openness to development,” Skowyra said. “But we need to get this in front of the public as soon as possible (to) get feedback about what’s acceptable and what’s not and get parameters moving forward so we have a tool to negotiate with.”