Monthly Archives: January 2015

The priciest Bainbridge home sales of 2014

IS5mcm0t8qg2dw0000000000 — This waterfront island home sold for $3.3 million. Courtesy photo

Earlier this week I rounded up the 20 most expensive commercial real estate sales of 2014 in Kitsap County.

Today, I’m taking a look at the priciest homes sold last year, based on county assessor’s records.

High-end homes sold at a good clip across Western Washington in 2014, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

In Kitsap County, 55 homes sold for more than $1 million. That was up from 47 in 2013.

Now, I could just list the top 20 home most expensive home sales in the county, but they would all be Bainbridge Island properties. In fact, I could list the top 35 most expensive Kitsap homes sold, and they would still all be on the island.

Instead, I’m breaking out the top 10 island homes sold, and following up with the top 10 sold on the peninsula. Details are from public records and online listings:

Top Bainbridge Island Home Sales

Bainbridge Island ranked as the sixth most expensive school district in Western Washington in 2014, with a median single-family home price of $620,000. These were the top island sales:

1. Tolo Road waterfront — $3.3 million

Sale Date: Sept. 19

Location: 4000 Block of Tolo Road, on the west side of the island, across the water from Brownsville.

Description: 1.67-acre waterfront property with moorage; 4,540-square-foot three-bedroom house, built in 2006. (Pictured above). Listing here.

2. Sunrise Drive waterfront — $3.15 million

Sale date: Aug. 5

Location: 14000 Block of Sunrise Drive NE, on the northeast side of the island, just south of Fay Bainbridge Park.

Description: An acre of beachfront facing Puget Sound; four-bedroom house 6,170-square-foot, four bedroom house, built in 2000. Listing here.

3. Pleasant Beach waterfront — $2.89 million

Sale date: June 6

Location: 3000 Block of Pleasant Beach Drive NE, on Rich Passage at the south end of the island

Description: Less than an acre of low-bank waterfront with moorage; 5,370-square foot, four bedroom house, built in 2005. Listing here. Continue reading →

Harrison/Regence split inspires legislation

Tad Sooter

The messy split between Harrison Medical Center and Regence BlueShield last year was the inspiration for a bill introduced Wednesday in the state Senate.

Senate Bill 5648, sponsored by Sen. Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, would add a section to the state Patient Bill of Rights to “ensure continuity of health insurance coverage in the event of a split between hospitals and insurers,” according to a news release.

The bill would add a section to the Bill of Rights guaranteeing patients in-network access to their hospital through the end of their plan year, even if their insurance carrier drops its contract with the hospital.

For example, if an insurance company terminated its contract with a hospital in August, those customers could still access the hospital at an in-network level through the end of December, and couldn’t be balance billed for the full cost of their care.

The bill is supported by the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

“When you buy a health plan, you expect to have access to vital providers when you need them,” Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in the release. “You also expect to pay the costs your policy outlines. This legislation would protect consumers from potentially huge financial bills that could arise during a contract breakdown.”

Rolfes began researching the issue after hearing complaints from Kitsap constituents following the termination of Regence’s contract with Harrison.

Rolfes and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner prodded the two sides into reaching a deal that would prevent Harrison from balance billing Regence customers for emergency care.

The agreement was retroactive back to the August termination date. (Harrison representatives said the hospital hadn’t been balance billing Regence customers anyway).

You can read my most recent post about the Harrison/Regence situation here. Continue reading →

Kitsap’s top commercial property sales of 2014

Tad Sooter

Residential real estate sales surged in Kitsap County last year. The same was true for commercial sales, according to assessor’s records.

Across the county, 302 commercial parcels changed hands in 2014, about 13.5 percent more than in 2013. A total of 198 were sold in single-parcel sales, 18.5 percent more than in 2013.

Those sales included some high profile properties. Below I’ve listed the 20 biggest commercial real estate transactions of 2014 by sales price.

A couple of notes before we get started:

— We’re talking about sales of property, not the business tenants associated with the property.

— Most the sellers and buyers were generic holding companies. You can plug the names into the state’s corporation search to get more details.

1. Arbor Terrace Apartments, Port Orchard

Sale date: Dec. 22

Sale price: $28.6 million

Sold by: Heritage Communities LLC. to Sea 1800 Sydney Avenue LLC

Notes: Two parcels totaling about 18 acres and 280 units.

2. Bay Pointe Retirement Center, Bremerton

Sale date: June 16

Sale price: $21.9 million

Sold by: AEWSH Bay Pointe Senior Housing to ARCH BPBRMWA01 LLC

Notes: A 3.3 acre retirement center in West Bremerton.

3. Bethel Junction, Port Orchard

Sale date: July 22

Sale price: $20.8 million

Sold by: Tavitac Bethel LLC. to Bethel Garp LLC.

Notes: A two-parcel, 157,500-square-foot shopping center that includes a Safeway (soon to be Haggen), Starbucks and other businesses. Sold to a San Diego investment group. Earlier blog post here. Continue reading →

Plan changes slow work on Poulsbo Sonic

Tad Sooter

Fans of Sonic Drive-In are going to have to wait a while longer to get their fix in Poulsbo.

Work on the future fast food restaurant is progressing at a snails pace this winter. According to the city, “ongoing changes to the site plan” for the Viking Way parcel are holding up the show.

The city released an update Wednesday on a host of construction projects underway around town.

The update includes information on the residential neighborhoods under development, and a spurt of downtown public works projects set to begin this month.

The full update is posted below: Continue reading →

Food safety: Restaurant inspection grades

Tad Sooter

DiningOut_Veneto01_11380288_ver1.0_640_480 Below are the monthly restaurant inspection scores for September and October, distributed by the Kitsap Public Health District.

The health district keeps tabs on more than 1,000 establishments in Kitsap. Each is usually inspected twice a year. Inspectors make sure food is handled properly from prep to serving.

The district works with operators to correct deficiencies. Grades from the inspections are made available to the public.

The inspection report from April is posted below. For even more detailed safety information on a restaurant, you can use the health district’s handy database search. Continue reading →

Virginia Mason adding Bainbridge urgent care

Tad Sooter

Virginia Mason will offer urgent care at its Bainbridge Island Medical Center starting Monday.

Walk-in medical service for minor illnesses and injuries that need immediate attention will be available seven days a week, according to a notice on Virginia Mason’s website.

Hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. Virginia Mason’s Bainbridge clinic is located at 380 Winslow Way E.

Harrison Medical Center recently opened a 24-hour urgent care off Madison Avenue on Bainbridge Island. The Doctors Clinic offers urgent care Monday through Saturday at its Hildebrand Lane location.

Port of Bremerton to award $2M road project

Tad Sooter

The Port of Bremerton is poised to award a $1.97 million contract to extend its Cross SKIA Connector Road to Old Clifton Road.

The low bidder for the project WHH Nisqually Federal Services, LLC., a tribally-owned enterprise based in Olympia. The company’s bid came in just under the engineer’s estimate for the work, according to a port staff memo.

The port commission is set to approve the award at its Tuesday meeting. A breakdown of the bid is embedded below.

The port received a $2 million allocation from Puget Sound Regional Council for this phase of the connector road, and budgeted $345,800 of its own cash.

The existing connector road extends south off Highway 3 and runs along the east edge of Bremerton National Airport.

Phase 2.1 will extend the existing connector road by about 3,000 to meet Old Clifton Road (click the inset map to enlarge it). Contractors will also build a roundabout to accomodate future road extensions.

Work is expected to begin in June and be completed within 80 days.

The port considers the connector road critical for encouraging growth in the industrial and aerospace acreage surrounding the airport. You can read its pitch to the Regional Council here (PDF).

The area was previously called South Kitsap Industrial Area (SKIA), but was recently renamed Puget Sound Industrial Center-Bremerton (PSIC-B).

SKIA Bid Award by Tad Sooter

Poulsbo resident produces film on pot ban

Tad Sooter

About 52 percent of Poulsbo residents voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana statewide in 2012. But legalized pot businesses won’t be opening in the Viking City anytime soon.

The City Council adopted a ban on marijuana enterprises (PDF) last summer that remains in effect.

Prior to the vote, council members voiced societal and moral concerns with legalizing pot. They also argued permitting and regulating the new industry would be expensive, and the city would receive negligible economic benefit in return.

The council’s decision to ban legal pot businesses didn’t sit well with Branden Heinemann, a 30-year-old military veteran and medical marijuana patient who lives in Poulsbo. Continue reading →

Farmers keeping wary eye on avian flu cases

Tad Sooter

While public health agencies respond to the escalating human flu season, agriculture officials are tracking cases of avian influenza in the Northwest.

The H5N2 strain of bird flu was reported in British Columbia late last year, and since has been identified in four Washington counties. The virus can be deadly for birds but does not pose a threat to human health.

H5N2 was recently confirmed in Clallam County. Agriculture officials euthanized 118 infected ducks, chickens and geese at a Port Angeles farm Sunday, according to the Peninsula Daily News. A quarantine was established around the property.

While H5N2 has not been reported in Kitsap County, local farmers are taking basic precautions to protect their flocks, said Stuart Boyle, a Silverdale grower and president of the Western Washington Poultry Farmers Cooperative.

The bird flu cases are cause for concern, but not panic, Boyle said. H5N2 seems to have moved very slowly, he said. Growers should “just be conscious of what’s going on.”

H5N2 is carried by wild waterfowl and spread through bird feces. Officials recommend farmers try to keep their poultry away from wild birds.

Boyle said growers should also learn the symptoms H5N2 and be quick to report deaths or illnesses that appear consistent with the virus. The hotline for avian influenza reports is 1-800-606-3056.

Boyle said he’s been asking visitors to his farm about their travel history, and determining whether they’ve been in areas where wild waterfowl gather. Basically, he wants to make sure visitors don’t inadvertently track poop from wild birds onto his property.

You can find much more detailed avian flu information on the state’s Avian Health Program website.

Port Orchard’s One Ten Lounge eyes reopening

Tad Sooter

Port Orchard’s One Ten Lounge closed at the end of 2014, but its owners are looking to reopen in a larger space downtown.

Don Ryan, who owns the One Ten cocktail bars in Port Orchard and Poulsbo, said he and partner Kimberly Cherry decided not to renew the lease on the 110 Harrison Ave. location in Port Orchard.

Ryan and Cherry put the business up for sale last summer, but hadn’t found a buyer. Ryan said the small bar was doing OK business, but not thriving.

It was still a difficult decision to close, he said.

“Of course it does have a lot of sentimental value, a lot of friends, a lot of memories in that establishment,” he said. “We just made a decision we can’t feed it financially.”

The Harrison Avenue location was only about 800 square feet. Ryan said he would like to reopen in an expanded space somewhere in the downtown core.

“If we kept it in Port Orchard it would certainly be in the heart of downtown,” he said.

Poulsbo’s One Ten Lounge will remain open, Ryan said. The waterfront location is roughly double the size of the One Ten in Port Orchard, with room for a DJ and dance floor.

The Port Orchard One Ten Lounge opened in 2005, and was bought by Ryan and Cherry in 2006. They opened the Poulsbo location in 2010.

Ryan led development of the Port Orchard Public Market and operates several other local businesses.