Monthly Archives: February 2015

First Kitsap Haggen stores open March 7

We finally have dates for the first Haggen store openings in Kitsap County.

The Silverdale Albertsons and Port Orchard Safeway will be the first to make the transition, reopening under the Haggen banner on March 7.

According to a news release, the two stores will close temporarily beginning on the evening of March 5, in preparation for the change (pharmacies will remain open).

Both stores are tentatively scheduled to reopen as Haggens at 4 p.m. March 7.

The two stores were among 146 Albertsons and Safeway locations acquired by Bellingham-based Haggen. The acquisition was part of a divestiture required for a recently-approved merger of Albertsons and Safeway.

Haggen is also taking ownership of the East Bremerton Albertsons and Gig Harbor Safeway. (See a map of acquired stores here).

The East Bremerton Albertsons isn’t scheduled for a rebrand until early June. The Gig Harbor Safeway will close March 8 and reopen as a Haggen March 10.

Haggen will hold a community meeting from 5-6 p.m. March 19 at the Port Orchard Pavilion, 701 SW Bay Street. According to the news release, the meeting is aimed at giving farmers, food producers, nonprofit leaders and residents a chance to talk to company representatives.

Haggen plans to select five area nonprofits to donate to in conjunction with each store opening. The company will donate $1,000 to a single organization on the first day the store opens, and 2 percent of sales to four additional organizations for four consecutive Saturdays.

You can read my Q&A on the Haggen acquisition here, and feel free to keep throwing questions at me in the comment section.

SAFE Boats lease extension is a done deal

Tad Sooter

Port of Bremerton commissioners approved lease extensions Tuesday night for SAFE Boats International, the port’s largest industrial tenant.

Though the rough terms of the deal had been hammered out months ago, commissioners were clearly elated to have the agreement formalized. SAFE Boats employs nearly 200 workers in the port’s Olympic View Industrial Park.

“We’re very proud to have a relationship with SAFE Boats, and to have you in our industrial park,” Commissioner Axel Strakeljahn said. “At the end of the day it’s about the people who live in our community and the people who work at safe boats.”

SAFE Boats CEO Dennis Morris (pictured above) thanked the port for crafting lease extensions that meets the company’s changing needs.

safeboats “I think we’ve reached an agreement that will work for all of us,” Morris said.

The extensions lock in SAFE Boats as a tenant through mid 2017. After that, the manufacturer has the option of signing one-year extensions for up to four successive years on any or all of the four properties it leases.

The agreement requires a generous nine-month notice if SAFE Boats decides to not renew a lease.

The variable terms of the lease extensions could help SAFE Boats scale up or down to meet fluctuating demand for its small military and law enforcement boats.

“It does give us that flexibility in this dynamic business environment we find ourselves in,” Morris said.

As I reported last week, the agreement also gives SAFE Boats a steep discount on rent, to the tune of about $200,000 a year, or 41 percent.

SAFE Boats has leased space at the Port of Bremerton since 2000. The company is manufacturing a line of larger patrol boats at a Port of Tacoma facility.

With its main leases in Bremerton expiring at the end of June, SAFE Boats executives had looked for a way of consolidating operations. A search for suitable industrial space in Kitsap didn’t yield a ready solution

The company had the option of relocating its entire operation to the Port of Tacoma, but finally opted to stay in Bremerton.

With SAFE Boats sticking around, the Port of Bremerton’s industrial buildings are are largely full. The port still has a large number of vacant industrial pads it needs to find tenants for.

Commissioners may discuss a plan for creating spec buildings to attract more tenants at their next meeting.

SAFE Boats lease extension documents are embedded below: Continue reading →

Open house March 4 for Poulsbo assisted living

Tad Sooter

The public can find out more about a proposed Poulsbo assisted living community next week.

An open house is scheduled for March 4 for a planned three-story, 65,000-square-foot assisted living facility at Sunset Street and Jensen Way, within the Poulsbo Place II master plan.

The facility would include 6,000 square feet of commercial space facing Jensen, 40 under-building parking stalls and 52 surface level stalls.

The assisted living facility has been planned for several years. Martha & Mary may operate the center, but no formal agreement is in place with the developers.

The open house will be held from 5-7 p.m. March 4 at the Poulsbo Fire Station at 911 NE Liberty Road. The project applicant will give a presentation and answer questions.

For information, contact the City of Poulsbo Planning Department at (360) 394-9882 or planninginfo@cityofpoulsbo.com. The full open house notice is posted below.

Continue reading →

Brown Bear closing Chevrons on Hwy 305

Tad Sooter

Drivers will have two fewer fuel options along Highway 305 this spring.

Brown Bear Car Wash of Seattle plans to shut down two Chevron stations on the highway in the next six weeks. Its location off Hostmark Street in Poulsbo on Feb. 26. The Chevron off Hildebrand Lane on Bainbridge Island will close March 31, according to Brown Bear regional manager Larae Giuseffi.

Giuseffi declined to discuss the reason behind the closures. A call to Brown Bear’s corporate office was not returned Friday.

Brown Bear also owns a gas station at Highway 305 and High School Road, across the street from its Hildebrand location. Giuseffi said the company will keep that station open.

The closure of Brown Bear’s Hildebrand location will leave Bainbridge with two gas stations (a 76 station operates in Island Center).

Fuel stations on the island and in Poulsbo compete with tribally-owned stations in Suquamish, which work under a different taxing agreement than private sellers and can generally offer cheaper prices.

A Safeway store and gas station opened near Highway 305 and Lincoln Road last June, adding 10 pumps to the thoroughfare.

Real estate: 2015 begins with familiar trends

Tad Sooter

Kitsap County’s real estate market picked up in January right where it left off in December.

Sales activity was brisk. Inventory continued to scrape bottom.

According to Northwest Multiple Listing Service, there were 225 closed sales reported in Kitsap in January, the same number as in January 2014.

Pending sales, on the other hand, were up 16 percent from January 2014, promising a boost in closed sales early this year.

Pending sales | Create infographics

The number of available homes in the county just keeps dropping. There were 843 homes available in January, almost 30 percent fewer than in January 2014. Continue reading →

State approves Bainbridge pot grow

Tad Sooter

A Bainbridge Island marijuana producer and processor got the green light Tuesday from the state Liquor Control Board.

The planned business, called Way Kool, is the first recreational marijuana operation approved for the island. It will be located in a small industrial park at 8040 Day Road, just west of Highway 305.

This was not the same applicant who’d applied to place a marijuana retail outlet near Manzanita Park, sparking debate over whether the proposed business would violate a moratorium on opening pot businesses within 1,000 feet of public gathering places.

Way Kool is planned for a property outside just outside the 1,000 foot buffer. The city did not object to Way Kool’s application to the Liquor Control Board, according to a city spokeswoman. Way Kool’s business license application is under review.

Courtesy Ford, American Legion among January commercial sales

Tad Sooter

The East Bremerton American Legion post, Poulsbo’s Courtesy Ford dealership, a historic Bainbridge house and several industrial properties were among the notable commercial real estate sales of January.

Overall, 17 parcels changed hands for a total of $14.11 million last month, according to assessor’s data. Here’s a look at a few high-profile transactions:

East Bremerton American Legion — $325,000

Sale date: Jan. 7

Assessed value: $637,140

Sold by: 2010 1 CRE WA Retail, LLC., to The Filipino American Association of Kitsap

Description: A 9,000-square-foot building on 0.7 acres off Sheridan Road, just east of Wheaton Way in Bremerton.

Notes: The future of the property has been uncertain since American Legion Post 68 went bankrupt in 2011. Josh Farley will be following up on the Filipino American Association’s plans.

Viking Way Courtesy Ford — $1.98 million

Sale date: Jan. 5

Assessed value: About $2.3 million

Sold by: CBRA Inc. Custodial Receiver to Christopher and Laurie Morgan

Description: Three parcels totaling 4 acres, and a 40,000-square-foot former auto showroom on Viking Way in Poulsbo.

Notes: The family that owns American Building and Roofing on Viking Way bought the former Ford dealership from a court appointed receiver. Hudson Auto is leasing a portion of the property to expand its Poulsbo used car dealership. The Hern family closed Courtesy Ford in 2011.

Continue reading →

Retail sales continued to climb in 2014

Tad Sooter

We now have retail sales data for the first three quarters of 2014, and the numbers are looking good.

Taxable sales across all industries were 7.5 percent higher during the third quarter of 2014 than during the same months of 2013, according to a report from the Department of Revenue.

Retail trade sales (sales made by traditional stores, dealerships, online sellers, etc.) were up by 5.7 percent.

This was the first quarter taxable sales for recreational marijuana were included in DOR’s report. Those totaled about $1.5 million in Kitsap for all of 2014.

We’ll find out how retailers faired during the holiday season, and 2014 as a whole, when fourth quarter numbers are released this summer.

Here are charts showing sales over the first three quarters of 2014, as well as longterm sales trends in the county:

Kitsap retail sales | Create infographics

Haggen will add two Kitsap stores in March

Tad Sooter

An Albertsons store in Silverdale and a Safeway in Port Orchard are set to become Haggen stores in March.

A Gig Harbor Safeway will also make the transition to Haggen next month. The East Bremerton Albertsons store won’t switch to the Haggen banner until June.

The Bellingham-based grocery chain recently agreed to acquire 146 grocery stores as part of the divestment process required for the Albertsons and Safeway merger. Haggen released a tentative schedule for converting its 26 new Washington stores Wednesday.

Changes at the stores will include signage and product lines. Major remodels are not planned. See my Q&A on the Haggen acquisition here.

The full store conversion schedule released by Haggen is posted below:

Continue reading →