A $1.25 million deal was finalized on Wednesday to purchase the lot at 1043 Main Ave. in downtown Durango.
Risdon Group, a Florida-based development company, acquired the lot to build a four-story apartment and commercial complex south of the Crossroads Building.
“We are really about understanding, appreciating and valuing where we’re investing,” said Risdon CEO Steven Bradley.
The project called, “Risdon Durango,” will be close to a $30 million development. Risdon is a boutique real estate developer whose members believe the multiuse complex fills a gap in Durango’s downtown scene.
Seventy-five percent of the building will likely be residential units while the other 25% will be commercial, said Risdon Group Managing Partner Walker Hill.
The company did not say how many total residential units the building will have, but the units will be available for purchase only and some of the units will be penthouses.
“We think ownership for those that want to be on Main Avenue is important,” Bradley said.
The company did not disclose an estimated cost of each unit, saying it is too early to set a price point.
Hill said prices will likely vary.
“We’re doing the hard work of figuring out something that’s contextually appropriate and well received,” Hill said.
EXIT Realty Home & Ranch Real Estate Broker Nick Johnson said it is difficult to put a price tag on each unit when it is uncertain what the market will look like when the building is complete.
Excavation teams are expected to break ground sometime in the next 12 months. Hill said because of upcoming winter conditions, groundbreaking will likely be in spring 2025.
Studio & Gallery is located on the property purchased Wednesday. Bradley said the company would like to work out a deal to keep Studio & housed in the new building, but plans call for removing the existing building.
“We’re grateful to have them on our property now and hope that they stay with us forever,” Bradley said.
Tim Kapustka, Studio & Gallery member artist, said the collective of artists is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“We look forward to meeting the new owners and building a relationship moving forward that will allow Studio & to continue to thrive and serve our amazing arts community” he wrote in an email to The Durango Herald.
Construction will eliminate about 45 private parking spots south of the Crossroads Building. Six are reserved for Alpine Bank employees.
The owners plan to build a parking garage in place of the parking lot. The company says it is amenable to allowing other employers, including Alpine Bank, to reserve parking in the garage.
Durango Business Improvement Executive Director Tim Walsworth said infill projects, like Risdon Durango, are generally positive for downtown. But this project comes at a cost because of the plans to knock down Studio & Gallery.
“Our hope would be that those existing businesses that get displaced, assuming this thing goes forward and starts breaking ground, they can find good homes,” Walsworth said. “Especially Studio & Gallery. They’ve been around for a decade and are very amazing, creative people.”
But the building also has the potential to create more businesses and bring more shopping traffic to downtown Durango, he said.
Walsworth said downtown commercial real estate is a competitive market. When one business closes, another generally opens in those spaces pretty soon after.
Bradley describes the building’s design as “synergistic” with the Crossroads Building and said it will follow the city’s guidelines.
Regarding the building’s appearance in downtown, Walsworth said he hasn’t heard many residents complain about the Crossroads Building and doesn’t see why people would take issue with a building that looks like an addition to it.
Hill said the company does not want to build a structure that juxtaposes downtown architectural style.
“(We don’t want) something that was historically validated and then something really brand-new and shiny, out of contextual relevance happening right next to it,” Hill said.
Johnson said the development will create more business traffic in the northern parts of Main Avenue downtown. The northern stretch of downtown had been limited in foot traffic until 11th Street Station opened in 2017, he said.
“That really started to expand the downtown area in that direction,” Johnson said. “From an economic expansion standpoint, this is the missing key along the way (to 11th Street).”
As for the “Love Letters” mural on the south side of a building adjoining the parking lot: That is likely to be covered up by the new building.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
