The site plan for the updated Osprey Packs “basecamp” was approved by the City Council last week, making way for an expanded headquarters that is on track to start construction next month.

The plans call for adding 3,000 square feet of floor area and modernizing the space, bringing the total square footage to 34,164.

The company announced in February that it planned a major expansion of its Cortez Industrial Park headquarters. The headquarters currently consist of two separate warehouses. One was built in 1990 and is 14,000 gross square feet.

The other was built in 1999 and has a gross square footage of 12,500 and a small second floor office of 4,668 square feet. The project doesn’t expand the footprint but renovates an existing portion of the open warehouse area and adds a small mezzanine, according to a project narrative from RMBA Architects of Durango.

The company has plans to build to a new paved parking lot on the west side of the building with 48 new spaces as well as addition sheltered bike storage to accommodate the roughly 20 employees who bike to work regularly and the 10 to 12 who bike year-round.

Co-owner Diane Ptofenhauer noted that about four or five of those employees bike down from Dolores.

Lauren Jackson, of RMBA Architects of Durango, confirmed that the project is in the bid phase and the permit review process.

“Once we get the building permit (hopefully by end of the month) then the contractor will begin mobilizing. We anticipate construction starting in September,” Jackson wrote in an email.

The contractor for the project is FCI Constructors in Durango.

Osprey Packs employs about 76 people in Cortez.