| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009 3:12 pm |
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Local News 
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A year after arsonists hit Street of Dreams, ruins remain MALTBY -- All that's left of Todd Lockie's dream home are charred remains, the stench of smoke and crippling debt.The custom $2 million home he built for the Street of Dreams, a regional showcase of luxury homes, was supposed to take his business to the next level. Instead, it may have ended it. Nearly a year ago, early on the morning of March 3, the entire Street of Dreams was set on fire, an inferno that caused at least $7 million in losses. Three houses were destroyed and the other two damaged. Federal officials suspect domestic ecoterrorists are responsible. No arrests have been made. Today some of those who built the luxury homes in the Echo Lake cul-de-sac are struggling to stay in business. It appears there won't be a Street of Dreams show for the second year in a row. And the neighborhood that once drew tens of thousands of people is a husk of its former self. Lockie spent a lot of his own money and more of his time perfecting his house, Copper Falls. All that remains is the concrete foundation and a ragged section of wall where a door swings in the breeze. Lockie and the other builders had insurance, but it wasn't enough to cover all their losses. "We could have survived the economy," Lockie said. "It's the fire that's killing us." * * * The Street of Dreams was supposed to be part of a rural cluster development of 48 homes on 115 acres. A grand stone entryway still welcomes everyone to Quinn's Crossing, but the street is an eerily deserted scene. A spray-painted anarchy symbol is scrawled over a sign that tells people about the local woodland plants, and a metal fence blocks a gravel road leading to more lots that were supposed to be homes by now. Since 1983, the Street of Dreams has drawn together A-list builders to create one neighborhood after another of dreamy high-end homes around the Puget Sound region. An estimated 80,000 people each year paid $18 each to tour the homes before they sold. The Quinn's Crossing project in 2007 was the second ever to be held in Snohomish County. It was also the first time organizers planned to focus on smaller houses built with environmentally friendly products and practices. The venture was controversial from the beginning because of where it was being built. The Quinn's Crossing property sits atop the area's drinking water source. It's just north of the 644-acre Paradise Valley Conservation area. Neighbors from the Echo Lake and Paradise Lake areas sued Snohomish County and the developers, Yarrow Bay Development Co. of Kirkland. The developer filed its own lawsuit against the county, after the County Council decided the project had to be built over several years. Both the neighbors and the developer agreed to withdraw their lawsuits in a settlement that allowed for greater environmental protections and a speedier development timetable. During the fracas, neighbors raised questions about the environmental credentials of the Street of Dreams project. The criticism mirrored a debate already circulating, one that would resurface during the show: Can a 4,000-square-foot house ever be considered green? * * * In the days following the fire, federal officials with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives scoured the smoldering properties for evidence. They seized a banner with an anti-development message that was signed "E.L.F." That made officials suspect the fires likely were the work of the Earth Liberation Front, a band of environmental terrorists responsible for setting many blazes throughout the West. Since 1990, arson attacks linked to radical groups have destroyed six homes and one business in Snohomish County and Camano Island, and caused $11 million in property damage. A Web site associated with ELF lists the Echo Lake fires among the group's accomplishments, but points out that ELF has not claimed responsibility. A call and e-mail to the group were not returned. Federal officials have shared few details about their investigation. "We're aggressively investigating the Quinn's Crossing arsons and actively pursuing several leads," said Robbie Burroughs, a FBI spokeswoman in Seattle. ATF spokesman Nick Starcevic said there were no updates. Arson investigations are difficult to begin with, experts said. If the people who set the Street of Dreams ablaze were environmental terrorists, that would make the hunt to arrest them even more challenging, said Gary Perlstein, a Portland State University criminology professor who has studied the groups. "You need to find them and these people are very difficult to find," he said. These terrorists often study criminal justice techniques to thwart investigators. They wear gloves and cover their shoes, Perlstein said. Whatever evidence was collected from the fires likely is sitting in a warehouse. The investigation now focuses on detective work, gathering evidence by either turning a member into an informant or infiltrating the ranks with an undercover operative. "It's the most difficult thing that they have to do," Perlstein said. * * * The fire couldn't have come at a worse time. The Street of Dreams show had ended eight months earlier and all five houses still on the market. That was about to change. One home had a sale pending, two had interested buyers and one had an agent preparing to write an offer. The fire ended all the deals except one for La Belle Fleur, which suffered smoke damage. A woman told Lockie a week after the arson that she was interested in buying Copper Falls if he rebuilt it. "Then she decided she didn't want to do it," Lockie said. "I think she was just kind of scared. Homes are an emotional purchase." Days after the fire, the builders met and talked about rebuilding the entire street. The crummy economy put an end to that. The market for expensive, custom homes had shriveled. "I'd love to rebuild it," Lockie said. "We don't have anybody to buy it." Lockie now is trying to sell his lot. Builder Grey Lundberg, whose company built a house called Urban Lodge, lost money, too. His Bellevue company, Grey Lundberg Inc., is weathering the loss. The investor who financed the project will retain the lot. "I understand some of the guys had much more financial loss," Lundberg said. "It had an impact -- no question -- but it wasn't a death strike." The two homes still standing relatively unharmed after the blaze -- La Belle Fleur and Tamarack -- have been purchased, both for well below the original price tag of nearly $2 million. Another house looks like someone had been working on it, but the owner and builder could not be reached for comment. Tamarack, which had minimal damage, went for $1.45 million about a month after the fire. La Belle Fleur has changed hands twice in the past year. The second sale closed at the beginning of February for $1.1 million, nearly $700,000 less than the first buyer paid, according to Snohomish County property records. Meanwhile, the company that promotes the Street of Dreams doesn't appear to have a show planned this year. The 2008 show was canceled. Promoters cited the tough real estate market and said they couldn't find a suitable location to build new high-end homes. John Heller, the owner of Seattle Street of Dreams Inc., wouldn't return calls and no one else at the organization would say whether there will be a show this year. An employee did confirm the company hasn't located a site for the show, something that would have to be done by now for a summer show. The company started hosting tours in 1984 and periodically takes a year off. This would be the first time organizers have canceled two consecutive shows. Lundberg, who says he knows Heller well, said the fires devastated him. "I would speculate they have some healing to do themselves," he said. "They've also got to wait for the market to turn." Even if the fire hadn't happened, it's nearly impossible for builders of custom homes to get financing for projects now, Lundberg said. Any Street of Dreams builders would have to finance construction themselves. If they have that kind of cash, they're probably smart enough not to build right now, he said. * * * After the economy rebounds, it's likely that more homes will be built on or around the Street of Dreams location. Forty-eight lots on the 115-acres at Quinn's Crossing are zoned for houses. Yarrow Bay still owns a good portion of the property around the Street of Dreams. The first phase of the project is moving forward, albeit more slowly because of the economy, Lund said. He's director of development for the company. No lots have sold since the arsons. Prior to the fires, eight sold. The lots are intended for individual buyers who want to build custom homes, Lund said. Most neighbors maintain a shrug-the-shoulders attitude about what's happened, said Laura Hartman, a member of Echo-Paradise community, a neighborhood group. The group is trying to get the county to put some of the property on a conservation list, Hartman said. In the meantime, people who live near Quinn's Crossing walk their dogs and ride horses through the development's trails. "A lot of people thought it was a bad idea to begin with," she said. "It's too bad it didn't work out." Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com. |
Photo Gallery: Fires: Before and After
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