The Cottage Company, a residential real estate development company based in Seattle, announced the start of construction of its latest community, Chico Beach Cottages at 7740 Chico Way NW in Silverdale.

The community of seven 2 and 3 bedroom homes each enjoys 150 feet of waterfront with views of Mt. Rainier and Dyes Inlet from each home. Chico Beach Cottages will be the first community built under Kitsap County’s ‘Urban Low’ zoning designation that requires a minimum of 4 and maximum of 9 homes per acre in ‘infill’ locations as a means of achieving medium density single family infill development, consistent with Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan and Silverdale Sub-Area Plan goals.

As Kitsap County and Silverdale seek to increase the supply and diversity of housing, the project provides an attractive, new single-family housing choice that responds to changing household sizes and ages, and provides opportunities for ownership of smaller, new construction, energy-efficient, lower maintenance and operating cost homes, within a single-family neighborhood.

Chico Beach Cottages will achieve the 4-Star level of Built Green certification and be the first Built Green 4-Star and Energy Star Certified, third-party verified community in Kitsap County, as certified by the Kitsap Homebuilders Built Green program. Energy Star certification requires that energy costs in new homes achieve at least a 15 percent energy cost savings over typical new homes built to Washington’s already-high state energy code.

Chico Beach Cottages will also be the first ‘Cottage Housing’ community in Kitsap County. Kitsap County’s cottage housing provision encourages the creation of more usable open space for homeowners through flexibility in density and lot standards and supports Washington’s Growth Management objectives.

Chico Beach Cottages community amenities include the beach, gazebo deck overlooking Mt. Rainier and Dyes Inlet and a Commons Building for community gathering, individual projects, meetings or potential guest space, finished inside with natural wood, some of which was reclaimed from the original 1937 home on the property. Milled trees from the site will be reused and provide wood for fencing, arbors, porch and deck railing for use throughout the project. Some trees removed from the site were donated to Kitsap County for use in its nearby Schold Farm wetland restoration project.

Project construction began in mid-August and is scheduled for completion in mid-May 2011. Target prices start at $549,000. Purchase reservations are now being taken, and two of the seven cottage homes are already reserved. The community is represented by a Silverdale-based sales team from Coldwell Banker McKenzie.

The Cottage Company’s Chico Beach Cottages project collaborators include well-known Kitsap County architect Charles Wenzlau of Wenzlau Architects and premier Kitsap County builder, Tad Fairbank of Fairbank Construction Company.

Chico Beach Cottages is privately financed using an innovative structure of ‘friends & family’ investment and private debt. The $3.0M project represents a direct financial investment by The Cottage Company in the central Kitsap County economy. A special focus has been made to employ Kitsap County subcontractors and suppliers in the construction of the community.