The Uptown 240 construction site off Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon is pictured Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (Sawyer D’Argonne/Summit Daily News)
Eighteen hours before an unfinished condo complex in Dillon was to hit the auction block Friday, its owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the long-troubled project.
Work on Uptown 240 began in September 2018 with the demolition of a family restaurant at 240 Lake Dillon Drive. A groundbreaking for the eight-story complex occurred in mid-2019.
Since then, little has gone right, according to court documents and past media reports.
The pandemic caused Uptown 240’s financiers to back out, leading to a work stoppage in April 2020. Construction was supposed to resume in November 2020 and then February 2021 but never did. Meanwhile, weather in the snowy mountain town has damaged the building’s foundation, which will need to be replaced, according to the Summit Daily News.
After work stopped in 2020, lawsuits began. That September, the subcontractor ClayDean Electric in Denver sued over an unpaid $575,000 invoice. The case is still being litigated.
ProNet Capital, a consultant on the project, sued in November 2021, claiming it had not been paid for some of the work it did. A Denver judge agreed and awarded it $126,000.
Then a lender sued last August, claiming he had given $610,000 to the project and is owed $815,000; that case is pending. Three months later, a man who put a down payment on a condo at Uptown 240 sued and was awarded $153,000 by a Summit County judge.
Finally, Michigan developer Jake Porritt, whose Porritt Group purchased the project’s debt last year, sued in January and asked Summit County District Court Judge Reed Owens to let him sell the property in a foreclosure sale. Owens gave Porritt permission Feb. 8.
But the Chapter 11 filing Feb. 23 has halted the sale until a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge can determine whether Uptown 240 LLC will be able to reorganize and repay its creditors.
The company has only one asset — the unfinished condo complex — and is run by Danilo Ottoborgo, whose family owned the since-demolished restaurant at that location.
A rendering of Uptown 240, a long-delayed condominium complex in Dillon. (Town of Dillon)
Uptown 240 LLC owes more than $16 million to creditors, including $9.5 million to Porritt and $2.9 million to the project’s general contractor, Symmetry Builders in Weld County, according to its bankruptcy paperwork. It estimates its real estate is worth $27 million.
Uptown 240 was designed to have 80 units, ranging from three-bedroom condos with seven-figure price tags to $300,000 studio apartments. At its groundbreaking, Dillon leaders praised it as a unique addition to the center of the small Summit County town.
More recently, those same leaders have grown frustrated with the Ottoborgos.
“We don’t understand what’s going on there,” town manager Nathan Johnson said by phone Monday, calling the situation “very unfortunate” and “very frustrating.” He said Uptown 240 LLC needs to communicate with the town and with people who bought condos there.
“We are trying to force communication. We are not getting any communication,” he said.
Ottoborgo and his bankruptcy attorney, Keri Riley with the Denver law firm Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley, did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Monday.
The Uptown 240 construction site off Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon is pictured Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (Sawyer D’Argonne/Summit Daily News)
Eighteen hours before an unfinished condo complex in Dillon was to hit the auction block Friday, its owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the long-troubled project.
Work on Uptown 240 began in September 2018 with the demolition of a family restaurant at 240 Lake Dillon Drive. A groundbreaking for the eight-story complex occurred in mid-2019.
Since then, little has gone right, according to court documents and past media reports.
The pandemic caused Uptown 240’s financiers to back out, leading to a work stoppage in April 2020. Construction was supposed to resume in November 2020 and then February 2021 but never did. Meanwhile, weather in the snowy mountain town has damaged the building’s foundation, which will need to be replaced, according to the Summit Daily News.
After work stopped in 2020, lawsuits began. That September, the subcontractor ClayDean Electric in Denver sued over an unpaid $575,000 invoice. The case is still being litigated.
ProNet Capital, a consultant on the project, sued in November 2021, claiming it had not been paid for some of the work it did. A Denver judge agreed and awarded it $126,000.
Then a lender sued last August, claiming he had given $610,000 to the project and is owed $815,000; that case is pending. Three months later, a man who put a down payment on a condo at Uptown 240 sued and was awarded $153,000 by a Summit County judge.
Finally, Michigan developer Jake Porritt, whose Porritt Group purchased the project’s debt last year, sued in January and asked Summit County District Court Judge Reed Owens to let him sell the property in a foreclosure sale. Owens gave Porritt permission Feb. 8.
But the Chapter 11 filing Feb. 23 has halted the sale until a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge can determine whether Uptown 240 LLC will be able to reorganize and repay its creditors.
The company has only one asset — the unfinished condo complex — and is run by Danilo Ottoborgo, whose family owned the since-demolished restaurant at that location.
A rendering of Uptown 240, a long-delayed condominium complex in Dillon. (Town of Dillon)
Uptown 240 LLC owes more than $16 million to creditors, including $9.5 million to Porritt and $2.9 million to the project’s general contractor, Symmetry Builders in Weld County, according to its bankruptcy paperwork. It estimates its real estate is worth $27 million.
Uptown 240 was designed to have 80 units, ranging from three-bedroom condos with seven-figure price tags to $300,000 studio apartments. At its groundbreaking, Dillon leaders praised it as a unique addition to the center of the small Summit County town.
More recently, those same leaders have grown frustrated with the Ottoborgos.
“We don’t understand what’s going on there,” town manager Nathan Johnson said by phone Monday, calling the situation “very unfortunate” and “very frustrating.” He said Uptown 240 LLC needs to communicate with the town and with people who bought condos there.
“We are trying to force communication. We are not getting any communication,” he said.
Ottoborgo and his bankruptcy attorney, Keri Riley with the Denver law firm Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley, did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Monday.
