Page 12 - Venture - State of the Market 2020

Your land in Sammamish was rezoned and
the value skyrocketed, what led to you and
your family first purchasing that land?

The Plateau was a friendly environment to
raise our family. My family lived in Renton
and Joe’s in Kenmore. We were close. We
also wanted some land and I was interest-
ed in a garden and some livestock. We
had our own company, Brickmason’s Inc,
and there was lots of work for us within a
25 mile radius. And we knew that the Pla-
teau had a future. The location was right
on the Westside, close to I-90 and Seattle,
renowned school districts and lots of land
for growth.

My oldest son, Jason, also had a dream.
He began working at the Chicken Farm
next door when he was about 8 years old.
Every three months or so, the trucks would
arrive and all the neighbor kids would go
into the barns and catch chickens. The
Chicken Farming didn’t last much longer
and the barns soon became dry storage
for vehicles and boats. Jason purchased
3 acres with 3 barns in 1989 and soon was
providing dry winter storage for 120 boats.

He was able to support his dream of trav-
eling the world racing off-road motorcycles
of which he actually became the #1 ranked
rider in the Northwest and was on the USA
National Team. The chicken barns were
across the street from my property so we
partnered. He chased his dream and I ran
the rental business. He sold to develop-
ers at the same time I did -- and the Sam-
mamish Town Center is now a reality.

Sammamish became an actual city in 1999
The talks began very early on to provide
a “town center” for the new City. The
talks continued through 2016. Developers
came and went. City officials and planners
came and went. The recession came and
recovered. Finally with patience, the time
came with our property being rezoned, our
value was established, and our properties
closed and we moved on!

10 VENTURE | 2020 STATE OF THE MARKET