SEQUIM — A 109-unit affordable senior apartment complex that the City Council recently approved, with some conditions, in a split vote has been put on hold for lack of financing, the developer said.
“We’re putting it on sale just trying to see what’s out there,” said Paul H. Murphy, a custom home and land developer in the Seattle area whose family has owned the Sequim property since the 1970s, of the 7.9 acres proposed for the project, plus a separate commercial store site between Joe’s Road and U.S. Highway 101 at South Sequim Avenue.
“Things change,” he said. “I don’t think it’s dead in the water.”
Murphy said by putting the property back on the market, he was sending out feelers for a possible partner who might be willing to come in on a joint venture and secure the financing needed to build the multimillion-dollar project.
Should that happen, Murphy said, the project could again go forward.
The property was recently put back on the market and is listed with Mike McAleer, RE/MAX 5th Avenue.
The City Council in a 4-3 vote approved a binding site plan for an apartment complex with some built-in retail shops in phases.
Council members voiced concerns about the proposal’s density, whether it met parking standards and whether it blended in with the surrounding neighborhood’s character.
The vote came after a closed executive session to discuss possible litigation surrounding the Peninsula Sunbelt Investments LLC proposal at South Sequim Avenue and Brownfield Road south of U.S. Highway 101.
Council members Ted Miller, Susan Lorenzen and Erik Erichsen voted against it.
Mayor Ken Hays and council members Laura Dubois, Don Hall and Bill Huizinga voted in support of a plan option requiring that the developer agree to allow a third floor to the apartment complex if it only had 60 percent of the floor space of the first and second floors.
Hay said Monday he was glad to hear the project was still possible.
“If I had a piece of property like that, I would want to sell it, with it already having the approvals on it,” Hays said.
Hays complimented the developer for what he saw as a good job.
The project was recently praised by the city planning commission’s chairwoman, JulieAnna Gardiner, as meeting city standards.
Hays said he was at the same time concerned that apartment dwellings were being built everywhere in Sequim but near the downtown core.
Murphy said the project would have lost about 24 units under the third-flood condition, amounting to a revenue loss of up to $2 million in two years.
Murphy said the development would not likely see a return on investment for at least 10 years.
“I’m in it for the long haul,” he said. “If it happens, that’s great in terms of construction costs.
“The other side of the coin is with the economy today, everything is frozen up. That’s the main hurdle.”
Murphy called the project “a viable deal. I think it would be successful.
“I’m not looking for a quick return. I want something that’s sustainable and looks right.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
