Tag Archives: dealership

Plans filed for new Bruce Titus Ford dealership

titus.rendering Permit applications filed with the city this month give a first look at Bruce Titus Ford’s expansion plans in Port Orchard.

The Bay Street dealership recently purchased an adjacent lot where St. Vincent de Paul runs a thrift store. St. Vincent plans to open a new shop on Bethel Avenue later this year, and will continue operating on Bay Street until then. faith2_21706995_ver1.0_640_480

Bruce Titus Ford is proposing a two-story, 29,000-square-foot building on the site of the current thrift store.

For perspective, the existing showroom is about 12,000 square feet. The existing thrift store building is roughly 26,000 square feet.

Below is a preliminary site plan for the proposed Bruce Titus project (click here to view the full plan set):

Port Orchard Community Development Director Nick Bond said the project will require a conditional use permit, shoreline development permit and shoreline variance.

The Bay Street Pedestrian Path will be extended along the shoreline of the property via an easement.

You can view the notice of application and SEPA determination of non significance for the dealership project here. Comments will be accepted through Aug. 12.

According to county documents, Titus paid $1.65 million for the St. Vincent parcel, which was owned by Port Orchard Shopping Center LP. The two waterfront properties total about 3.3 acres.

Business has been good lately for Port Orchard dealerships. New and used car dealers within the city reported higher gross sales in 2015 than in 2007, before the start of the recession, according to numbers from the state Department of Revenue.

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Proposed project would redevelop Liberty Bay Auto property

Tad Sooter

A Poulsbo property owner is considering a plan to redevelop a car dealership property at the head of Liberty Bay with a mix of shops and homes.

The city received a pre-application submittal in June for a project called Liberty Bay Village, which would replace Liberty Bay Auto and a neighboring commercial building with a mixed-use development.

In a project narrative attached to the submittal, architect Charlie Wenzlau said the project was designed to complement a planned extension to the city’s waterfront boardwalk.

Wenzlau submitted the pre-application package on behalf of Dean Church, who owns the Liberty Bay Auto dealership, the 1.8-acre Liberty Bay Auto property and a 1.6-acre parcel to the south, which is home to a dance studio and auto glass shop.

A pre-application conference with city staff is scheduled for July 19. The pre-app process allows developers to get feedback on the feasibility of a project before filing a formal permit application.

liberty bay photo In an email Tuesday, Church said he would be available to comment on the proposal later this week, and stressed it was a long-range vision for the property.

Liberty Bay Village would incorporate a landscape buffer along the boardwalk, a pocket park and a “central plaza with shoreline access.”

A cluster of retail buildings would be constructed on the Liberty Bay Auto property, with potential for apartments above. Two, two-story residential buildings are planned for the southern parcel. A line of “carriage” houses would add more homes along the east edge of the site.

Overall, the project would create 35,600 square feet of residential space and 14,400 square feet of commercial space, served by 72 parking stalls.

“We believe the project has the opportunity to provide a prominent anchor to the northern end of the boardwalk and enhance this intersection which serves as a gateway to Old Town Poulsbo,” Wenzlau wrote in the proposal.

Click here to see the full pre-application submittal.

Housing Kitsap projects

Also on July 19, the city will hold pre-application conferences for two Housing Kitsap projects.

The county housing authority is collaborating with Sound West Group on the “NK Help Campus” proposal, which would bring a mixed-use development with apartments and commercial space to Viking Avenue property neighboring North Kitsap Fishline.

And Housing Kitsap is working with Central Highland Homes on a “College Park” proposal for single-family homes and an apartment building near Olympic College Poulsbo.

Boat sales are back in a big way

Tad Sooter

20080627-173841-pic-90777257_5695367_ver1.0_640_480 It’s hard to beat boat sales as an indicator of luxury spending.

Boats are typically expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and expensive to use. In short, owning a boat is a great way to dispose of disposable income.

With the exception of live-aboards, maritime professionals and remote island dwellers, very few boat owners can claim to really need their boats.

Like sales of many other luxury goods, boat sales took a dive during the recession. Droves of underwater boat owners literally walked away from their vessels.

20070619-190929-pic-800119525_5727290_ver1.0_640_480 Now the boating industry is rising from the depths. Boat sales seemed to turn a corner in 2013, as I noted in a story a couple of springs ago.

Sales continued to grow during the past two years, likely buoyed by the improving economy, falling gas prices and long, hot summers.

Puget Sound Business Journal reported this week that more than a quarter of Washington households own a boat, and sales in the state jumped 24 percent in 2015.

harbor3_18647849_ver1.0_640_480 We don’t have access to boat sales as a dollar amount here in Kitsap, but we do know how many vessels were sold to people who keep their boats in the county, thanks to data from Washington Sea Grant and the Northwest Marine Trade Association.

By their count, total boat sales for Kitsap increased 21 percent between 2010 (when activity bottomed out) and 2015. The rebound of new boats sales was more dramatic, jumping 102 percent over the same period.

New vessels accounted for 12 percent of Kitsap boat sales in 2015. The data include all power boats and sailboats with titles (so no kayaks or paddle boards).

Here’s a graphic showing boat sales for Kitsap since 2009:

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