Ryan Spencer/Summit Daily
Uptown 240 is asking a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to approve the sale of its beleaguered Dillon condominium project to a developer who has pitched a major redevelopment of the town core.
An order approving a sale of the partially constructed, 80-unit condo complex to JGJP Dillon LLC for $12.75 million is pending a judge’s approval, according to court records. The sale would put the project in the hands of developer Jake Porritt, who has worked with the Dillon Town Council over the past several months to establish a public finance mechanism to help fund a larger redevelopment of downtown.
“The transaction is still subject to bankruptcy court approval,” Caroline Kwak, a lawyer for Porritt, said in an email. “And that approval requires the court to decide if the sale to JGJP Dillon is in the best interest of Uptown 240, its creditors and the bankruptcy estate.”
Uncertainty has surrounded the property at 240 Lake Dillon Drive for years but only intensified in the 10 months since Uptown 240 filed for bankruptcy. The local restaurateurs-turned-developers behind Uptown 240 promised for years to complete the condominium project themselves, including as recently as this past spring.
The family restaurant at the site was demolished to make way for the planned condominium project in 2018, which broke ground the following year. But the company’s original financiers backed out during the pandemic
Construction was supposed to resume in November 2020 and again in February 2021 but never did. Then this past February, Uptown 240 filed for bankruptcy the day before a scheduled foreclosure auction.
Apparently unbeknownst to Uptown 240, the development permit for its project expired at the end of April. The Dillon Town Council in August declined to renew the development permit but reinstated it for any future buyers after Uptown 240 promised to sell the property at a bankruptcy sale this fall.
But in October, that bankruptcy sale was vacated after Uptown 240 only received two bids, neither reportedly being enough to cover the company’s debts. Then, it seemed the sale might be on again, in mid-October Uptown 240 asked the town of Dillon and other entities that held liens on the property to reduce or eliminate the amount owed so the sale could go through.
That buyer, though, dropped out. So, Porritt’s company made an offer.
“JGJP Dillon stepped up to purchase the property after the previous offer to purchase the property was withdrawn and there was no one else showing interest in,” Kwak said.
Through the whirlwind of the past several months, unsecured creditors, including 41 individuals who put a collective $6 million in deposits down on units, have been left in the lurch, unsure what money — if any — they will see returned.
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“There are broken dreams here. It’s been a rough road,” Boulder resident Matt Follett, who put a deposit down on a Uptown 240 unit, told the Dillon Town Council in September. “… But at the end of the day, now we’re just trying to get our money back.”
Sale of the property at bankruptcy sale was presented to the town council as the best course of action to potentially getting those would-be residents repaid, at least in part. Kwak said that unsecured creditors will be paid the amounts carved out from the sale proceeds as delineated in the Motion to Approve Sale she filed on behalf of Uptown 240.
“JGJP Dillon’s offer provides more cash to the bankruptcy estate than the previous offer,” Kwak said. “And this should ultimately provide a greater benefit to Uptown 240’s creditors and other interested parties than would be provided by any other practically available alternative.”
Uptown 240 property pending sale to developer proposing major changes in Summit County - Summit Daily
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