SEQUIM – It could have been a lot of things: moderately priced housing with offices and shopping within walking distance.
But it didn’t happen.
“Jerry and I are sick that we couldn’t get it together,” said John Cannon, a Seattle developer who planned Bell Creek Village along with partner Jerry Hann of Whidbey Island, this week.
The “urban village,” envisioned as taking shape on South Sequim Avenue near U.S. Highway 101, was to bring a new concept to Sequim – that of not having to drive anywhere.
Residents of Bell Creek Village, a 76-acre, mixed-use development, might have lived in condominiums above shops, taken pedestrian paths to workplaces nearby, played in their own parks and strolled to downtown Sequim a few blocks away.
“We had a tremendous positive response,” during public presentations of the village concept, said Hann.
What Hann and Cannon didn’t have, however, were real financial backers.
To generate interest in the village, Hann last year offered Sequim land for a new City Hall and civic center.
That complex might have included space for nonprofits such as the Sequim Senior Center, public library and Museum & Arts Center.
Saying he had a vision for Sequim that brought services, shopping and other attractions together around a central plaza, Hann told city officials he’d sell them 12 acres for $1.
But even with that offer, City Manager Bill Elliott said, building a City Hall at the village would be too costly.
He and the City Council turned their gaze back to the existing City Hall location on Cedar Street, and continued their discussion of tearing down the old one and replacing it with a much larger building.
The other organizations backed away, too, preferring to pursue separate digs elsewhere.
Then, “we ran out of time. We were unable to get an extension on the option to buy the property,” Hann said.
“It was a very complicated project,” he added.
“It took longer than we hoped to get the required permits from the city . . . and we needed to have commitments from users in place.”
Since those commitments didn’t materialize, Hann and Cannon won’t build Bell Creek Village.
The property will stay in the hands of Mark Burrows.
A sign on the land now directs potential buyers and builders to call Fred McConkey Development of Bellevue.
