Three years after David Hopkins first conceived of an upscale
residential/retail project in Manchester, he’s finally ready to
break ground. Demolition on the old Manchester Foods building, site
of the new development, will begin this week.
It’s been a long haul for Hopkins and his partner Dawn Gogol,
principals of Hoppet Construction Inc. of Gig Harbor. Their plans
have been delayed by a citizen appeal and a backlog of projects
awaiting approval by the county’s Department of Community
Development. And while many Manchester residents have expressed
approval of the project, The Anchors at Manchester has been at the
center of a hotly contested debate over building height and design
standards for the town’s commercial core.
Hopkins said he and Gogol have “worked our butts off” to make The
Anchors a showpiece and example for future development in
Manchester. The 26,435-square-foot “Cape Cod” style project will
have shops and 11 condominiums, ranging in size from 1,400 to 2,500
square feet, and in price from $500,000 to $1.1 million — not
exactly the kind of real estate the sleepy little waterfront town
with knockout views Mount Rainier has been used to.
“We got excited about this piece of land three years ago when we
felt we could have a real impact for design standards in
Manchester,” Hopkins said.
The project did get people thinking about design standards, but the
impact wasn’t exactly what Hopkins had expected.
Speaking of South Kitsap Reporter Chris Henry talks about life in the county seat of Port Orchard and surrounding areas.
