‘I like to buy property, improve it and have it turn out better than anyone thought’Sean Fitzpatrick has always loved the Illahee Apartments, the 1960s-era complex on Franklin Avenue between 10th and 11th streets whose decorative geometric panels in bright colors set it apart from its neighbors.

Fitzpatrick recently purchased the Illahee from Don Haskell, along with the rest of the properties Haskell owned and managed through his business, Wecoma Partners Ltd.

But he has no plans to tamper with the complex’s quirky sixties charm.

“I have loved that building since I was a kid. There’s no way I would change the look of it,” Fitzpatrick said, but he does plan to upgrade the interiors. He said he loves the contrast of that whole city block, which looks completely different from the surrounding Craftsman style houses.

Fitzpatrick is just one of many people attracted to Astoria’s natural beauty and relaxed lifestyle.

Laurie Duey, a real estate broker with Area Properties, said most home buyers are coming from out of the area – mainly from Seattle, Portland, Hillsboro and California. Duey said they are looking for quality of life, and many want to buy second homes.

“They want to be able to see the river and walk to the coffee shop,” she said.

Although 42-year-old Fitzpatrick lives in California, as a child he came to Astoria often with his family to visit relatives. “I don’t remember not having Astoria in my life,” he said. And he has continued his relationship with Astoria as an adult.

Over the years, he watched the city go from a gritty logging and fishing town in the 1970s, with tin buildings and dirty ships along its waterfront, to a vibrant community that’s a destination for upscale tourists and a second home for city dwellers looking for a more rewarding lifestyle.

The transformation did not surprise him.

“I’m really good at trends,” Fitzpatrick said, “and I’m a real estate junkie.”

He said he knew Astoria had “turned the corner” when he came here last year and didn’t recognize the Hotel Elliott.

In the 1970s, Fitzpatrick said he and other children brought trays of food to the people down on their luck who inhabited the downtown hotel’s dingy rooms. He remembered “plaster falling, cats screaming, those small, naked bulbs” hanging from the ceiling on a cord and the hotel’s inhabitants limping across 12th Street to the Schooner Tavern.

He said he had nightmares about the Elliott, which developer Chester Trabucco has transformed into a luxury hotel, along with The Schooner, which is now a fancy restaurant. Seeing the improvement was like a catharsis, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick knew when he was five that he would be involved in real estate. He made his first investment at 18 – a first trust deed on 10 acres of land in California. He then went on to California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo, graduating with a degree in finance and property management.

Over the years, Fitzpatrick has enjoyed using his penchant for real estate to change things for the better.

“I like to buy property, improve it and have it turn out better than anyone thought,” he said, reminiscing about the time he bought an unassuming home in a modest neighborhood in San Luis Obispo, and against the advice of others, replaced the old front windows with high-quality new ones. The new look so changed the house, that his tenants said people driving by began stopping their cars to look. After a few years, almost every house in the neighborhood installed new windows, and the property value went up.

Residential housing is what Fitzpatrick likes to do most. In bad times, people might not buy commercial property, but they always need somewhere to live, he believes. He has invested in Astoria’s Mill Pond Village, and is in the process of building eight houses there. He said he also encouraged some friends to buy lots there. He said he really likes that development, with its small houses on small lots.

Fitzpatrick said he and his wife, Anne, an artist with a master’s degree in computer science, plan to move to Astoria “full-time” when daughter Kelly, now 12, graduates from high school. In the meantime, the family will continue to visit often.

“We absolutely love it here,” Fitzpatrick said.

He isn’t the only one who’s bullish about Astoria.

“Every time we turn around , someone has decided to invest here,” said developer Chester Trabucco, whose corporation, No. 10 Sixth St., invested $2.5 million in the successful renovation of the Hotel Elliott several years ago.

“I always try to find out what prompted them.” He said one hotel guest on a day trip to Astoria from Portland bought several old Victorians on Exchange Street that had been converted to apartments, and will restore them to high-end apartments complete with high-speed Internet connections. Trabucco said another man who stayed at the Elliott, and ate at the Schooner restaurant across the street, bought the Riverine Apartments and has hopes of rehabbing the complex over time.

Like Trabucco, City Planner Rosemary Johnson is also curious about what brings people to Astoria, and to her office. The two main reasons? They came here on vacation, or they just saw “The Goonies” again and want to move here.

“They’re not just coming once and leaving,” Johnson said, “they’re falling in love with the ambiance of Astoria … They like the quality-controlled growth here.”

Investment by out-of-towners and local residents creating jobs and adding to the local economy, Johnson said. It is raising property values.

According to a report from the Regional Multiple Listing Service, the value of residential real estate on the North Coast went up 24.5 percent between October 2003 and October 2004 – more than any other area in metropolitan Portland and adjacent regions. Real estate broker Duey said 14 homes have been sold in Astoria since Jan. 1, there are 27 active listings, and 12 sales are pending.