`Mystery Buyer' Enters The Picture In Issaquah Project -- Seeks 180 Acres In Grand Ridge

ISSAQUAH - Once again, a "mystery buyer" is involved in a major King County open-space deal - this time the controversial Grand Ridge housing project.

The Metropolitan King County Council is set to vote Nov. 27 on the Grand Ridge proposal. If approved, the planned community would bring about 6,000 new residents to the Issaquah area.

Environmentalists who had backed the project are now hedging their support because of a deal that would allow a private buyer to purchase 180 acres that environmentalists claim should be left for public open space.

The 180 acres would be combined with 150 acres the mystery buyer plans to purchase from Port Blakely Communities, the Grand Ridge developer.

Although county officials would not reveal the mystery buyer's name, there's speculation that he is James Gordon Letwin, one of Microsoft's earliest programmers.

Letwin is believed to have been at the center of a foiled deal in December 1992, when an unidentified person offered the county $8 million to buy 633 acres of state Department of Natural Resources land, known as Section 36, on the Sammamish Plateau. Because private individuals are barred from buying DNR land, the buyer offered the county roughly half the land as a park, in exchange for the county buying the acreage on his behalf.

The County Council backed away from the scheme after concerns were raised about the buyer's plans. Eventually, the county bought the property on its own and is developing it into a regional park.

County officials weren't willing to comment on this latest buyer's identity.

"I don't even know the name of the buyer. I just work with the attorney," said Jackie Kirn, who is managing the Grand Ridge project for the county.

Messages were left with Jack McCullough, the attorney for the mystery buyer, but he couldn't be reached. An attempt to speak with Letwin was unsuccessful.

Judd Kirk, president of Port Blakely Communities, said he didn't know the buyer's identity, either, but said environmentalists were wrong to oppose the deal.

The buyer, Kirk said, intends to build only three houses on the 150-acre parcel. If Port Blakely were to keep the land, it could build up to 40 houses there, Kirk said. He said the 180-acre parcel would carry a conservation easement, ensuring no development will occur. Although the public would not be permitted access to the 180 acres, Kirk said 75 percent of the land is so environmentally sensitive, the public should be kept out.

Joanna Buehler, a Lake Sammamish resident, is concerned that the buyer will fence off the land.

"That will also keep out wildlife," Buehler said. She is also concerned about plans for a road through the property.

However, Kirk said the roadway will be a narrow access road, which follows an existing logging trail.

Although the mystery buyer adds intrigue to the Grand Ridge project, it is not expected to threaten the proposal. The agreement is backed by council Republicans and Democrats, as well as County Executive Gary Locke.

An earlier plan called for 4,700 houses. A compromise plan ironed out by Locke calls for an urban village, with 3,250 housing units, shops and offices, surrounded by nearly 2 square miles of land now owned by Port Blakely that would be turned over to the county for open space. In all, more than 80 percent of the 2,130-acre project would be open space, Kirk said.

If the county approves the plan, the city of Issaquah will likely annex the urban portion of Grand Ridge.