Tim Quigley’s building could be the key to whether a new Albertsons shopping center, a “telco hotel,” or both, are developed near Wheaton Way and Sheridan Road.

A Kirkland developer hoping to lure Albertsons to a proposed new shopping center is negotiating to buy several properties along Wheaton Way, including the site of Bremerton Junior High School. Meanwhile, Silverdale developer Joe Mentor is eyeing the same project with the goal of luring Albertson’s as well and is willing to pay more than Powell Development.

Powell has reportedly offered $1.6 million for the school property which the Bremerton School District declared surplus after Powell made the offer. Mentor offered to better Powell’s bid by $5,000.

Albertsons has been hunting for a new East Bremerton location since 1996, when the roof of its former store at 4220 Wheaton Way collapsed following the holiday week snow storm. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons declined comment on the project while officials from Powell Development hadn’t returned phone calls by presstime.

Powell is attempting to acquire at least a half-dozen commercial parcels fronting Wheaton Way that run from the junior high site to the intersection of Sheridan Road. Businesses in that stretch include Tim Quigley Insurance, Maria’s Taco Shop and Millie’s Tux and Bridal along with some smaller businesses and American Legion Post 68.

Tom Brandt of Prudential Northwest Real Estate, who is working with Powell, confirmed Albertsons interest, but said that there were a number of problems concerning acquisition of the smaller parcels and that project could very well go forward without them. “Albertsons took a run at them a couple of years ago,” he said, “but there was a hold out by the smaller property owners and it never went together.”

He said that the asking price for Quigley’s parcel was way too expensive and that there were problems with American Legion Post 68 moving because of liquor license considerations. He noted that Maria’s is on a lease that will expire before the project gets off the ground.

Mentor says his interest in the project was purely monetary. “When I found out the school district property was coming up for sale, I looked into it. You know I’m always looking for a good business opportunity,” he said. “Well, the school district had the property offered for $8.75 a square foot. The rest of the property they were going to need for the other half of the Albertsons project was tied up at about $30 a square foot. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there was a million dollars on the table. I figured if it was going to be developed, I might as well put in a bid. Doesn’t it make more sense for someone locally make that money instead of someone from Kirkland?”

Mentor also mentioned that the emergency heliport for Harrrison Hospital is on the school property and that the state has an interest since it paid for paving of a driver’s training course and a motorcycle training facility at the site as considerations that need to be addressed. He brought up the liquor license issue for the American Legion post as well.

There is also a reported interest in Quigley’s building by another developer interested in putting together a “telco hotel” project. The building, which was formerly a firehouse, is situated within site of where a large part of the county’s telecommunications infrastructure comes together. That was one of the reasons Concurrent Technologies chose to locate there. Also, its civil defense style construction is a major asset to that type of project.

Quigley admitted there had been some discussions about the Albertsons project and that he feels the price he would ask for the building reflects its fair market value. As far as the telco hotel was concerned, he said no one has approached him as of yet, but he is aware the building has above average value for such a project due to its proximity to the infrastructure in the ground.

There are also several buildings in downtown Bremerton under consideration for the telco project, of which the feasibility is only now beginning to be assessed. There is enough telecommunications infrastructure in the downtown area to make the project viable there as well.

A telco hotel is a building where numerous telecommunications vendors co-locate. It offers e-commerce businesses the ability to tap into several different providers for phone, electrical and internet backbone services as well as offer the necessary redundancy and backup facilities those types of business require.

The EDC’s telecommunications committee has been laying the groundwork for such a project for the past year. With rents in Seattle approaching $50 per sq. ft., e-commerce businesses — especially startup companies and those in the growth mode — are frantically searching for lower cost alternatives.

The same developer looking at Bremerton put together a similar, successful telco hotel project in downtown Tacoma last year.