The Dillon Town Council has expressed interest in establishing a new restaurant near the Dillon Marina and took steps Tuesday, Dec. 19, to begin exploring architectural concepts for the waterfront property.
Some Town Council members made clear during the work session that they have high hopes for developing a year-round restaurant at the spot down the hill from the amphitheater.
“I think that spot over there is the No. 1 most awesome restaurant location in the state of Colorado,” town council member John Woods said. “Can we all agree with that?”
The council directed town staff to issue a request for proposals to find an architectural design team, including a kitchen layout expert, to provide three concept drawings for a new restaurant located at the spot known as the Old Crow’s Nest.
The consultant picked by the town would complete the architectural exercise between March and September next year, perhaps hosting an open house with the community and providing a presentation to the council to review the three concepts, according to a memo to the council.
If the town receives proposals, it is estimated that it would cost between $30,000 to $60,000 to hire a consultant to produce architectural design concepts, the memo states.
“You do it right and it could be the best restaurant in the county,” council member Tony Scalise said.
Town Manager Nathan Johnson explained that at this point the request is only for a team to do architectural renderings to explore the feasibility. After that another request would have to go out seeking proposals from restaurateurs to run the restaurant, he said.
The restaurateur selected by the town could then work alongside kitchen design experts and the architectural team to complete the final restaurant layout, Johnson said. He described a potential building that would be built into the hillside so it would have minimal impacts on sight lines.
While most of the architectural design would be left up to a consultant to propose, Johnson imagined a “wall of windows” and decks for customers to enjoy the waterfront and mountain views.
There have been preliminary talks with Denver Water about what would be allowed near the Dillon Reservoir waterfront in terms of a potential restaurant, Johnson said, adding that things look good so far.
Woods said he wants “everyone, all of the restauranteurs in Denver to know” that this “beautiful” waterfront spot is in play, and discussed attracting a party interested in developing something akin to the luxury of Copper’s new Aerie lodge.
But Town Council member Kyle Hendricks expressed some reservations about the council getting involved with running a business and wondered whether the idea was to sell the property to a restauranteur.
“I don’t think we want to be part ownership of a restaurant. Do we?” Hendricks asked. “So just list the property for sale and see what happens?”
Council member Brad Bailey noted that it could be “difficult politically, financially to sell that property,” but said that the town would likely own the land and lease it to a restaurateur.
Johnson said the location where the restaurant is being considered is zoned as Parks and Open Space and because the town owns the land, it would also probably want to own any structure constructed at the site.
Bailey noted that there could be parking constraints at the site, especially on concert nights when the amphitheater lot might not be able to be used for the restaurant.
“It’s going to put pressure on the parking down at the marina, basically,” Bailey said. “So, we have to understand that we’ve got to make some moves left or right at some point to offset that, which will be a continued conversation.”
One Dillon town resident who said his condominium unit has a view of where the restaurant would be located, raised several concerns, including about the impacts to the view. But the town council noted that at this point it is only issuing a request for proposals for architectural concepts to explore the feasibility of the project.
“We are on such a preliminary basis here,” Bailey said. “Our minds are not made up in stone, cement or brick at any point. And if we go further, … you’re going to get your chance to look at all that, and we’re going to think about it too.”