More than a half-dozen multi-use and industrial/warehouse projects are in the planning pipeline. The optimism appears to fly in the face of a commercial, retail and office island vacancy rate that is reaching historic proportions.

“The vacancy rate is about 25 percent compared with about an average of two percent over the past several years,” says Jerry Knipe, a broker with The Sunrise Group. “Personally, I think we’ve hit bottom as far as vacancy is concerned. Things will be rosier in the future.”

Knipe points to a number of factors over the past several years that, combined, have left the island’s commercial real estate cupboard nearly bare. For example, office space was freed up when the new City Hall opened on Madison Avenue. Airbiquity Inc., the global positioning system software developer, abandoned several sites before moving into its new headquarters on Hildebrand Avenue. Finally, the undoing of Kevin Lawrence’s Zentix has left a number of large commercial spaces on Bainbridge Island wide open.

These include spaces in The Pavilion, the Parfitt Building, the William Eastman building, Day Road Business Park and the health club itself — on the site of the old bowling alley on Madison Avenue among others.

“There hasn’t been enough growth in island businesses to fill those spaces,” Knipe says.

Chamber of Commerce President Sheri Watson, who runs GP Properties on Day Road and closely monitors the island real estate market, sees other trends in play. She says some downtown Winslow landlords are “holding out for higher rents” rather than giving in to current market conditions.

Elsewhere, she sees struggling small office users letting go of space in favor of scaling back to either a home office setting or consolidating operations into a corporate main office elsewhere. “There’s still some interest here in warehouse stuff,” however, she adds.

Nevertheless, a number of multi-use projects — particularly in the downtown business core — are steadily moving forward. The largest of these is Harbor Square, a five-acre development on the corner of Winslow Way and Ferncliff Avenue.

Harbor Square, formerly known as Winslow Landing, is owned by The Washington Development Co. of Missoula, Mont. It will encompass 10 buildings that will surround a south-facing “central park” on Winslow Way, while a pedestrian circulation network will provide walking access to all buildings. Two large English Oak trees and one large Horse Chestnut will be preserved on the property.

The development will be constructed in five phases over a four year period and include 170 multi-family dwelling units, 25,000-square-feet of commercial space, a 480-stall underground parking garage, including 148 stalls for commuter and non-commuter parking, and 58 surface parking spaces. One of the most visible aspects of the ambitious multi-million dollar development is a tower — to resemble a lighthouse — that will occupy the middle of the complex.

“It’s the most important private project to come along on Bainbridge Island perhaps in its history,” says architect Sean Parker. After final site plan approval, the project’s backers hope to get started on construction this fall.

The former Unocal 76 Station on the corner of Winslow Way and Highway 305 — part of Unocal surplus property in Washington State, is for sale $490,000. The site, which has required significant environmental clean up, contains one acre and 15,000 square feet of buildable land.

Kip Lange, a broker representative for Lange Peizer, says several offers have come their way. It’s unclear what might be constructed on the site. Lange says Unocal must finish its clean up before any sale of the property can be completed.

The “Re-Doogle’s” multi-use development on the corner of Winslow Way and Ericksen Avenue has received a final nod of approval from a city hearing examiner following an appeal from an environmental group — Friends of the Ravine.

The development, owned by the Magnano family and managed by Bror Elmquist, is comprised of office, retail and condominium units. The site will contain five buildings — two facing Winslow Way of three stories each.

They will contain retail on the ground floor, office and some retail on the second floor and condos on the top level. Two, three-story buildings will be situated behind the Winslow Way structures and will include the same retail, office, condo mix. The project will encompass a total of 34,000 square feet — less than half devoted to office/retail and the remainder residential — and a 52-stall underground parking facility.

“The owners are trying to time the market as to when to break ground,’ Knipe says. “They&Mac226;re now regenerating enthusiasm for it.”

The Seaboard Building, 425 and 435 Ericksen Avenue, is a recently completed development comprised of two ultra-modern office buildings with available spaces that range in size from 750 to 9,550 square feet. Thirty percent of the space is leased and another 20 percent nearly leased, says Knipe, the development’s leasing agent.

Leasing rates for Seaboard range from $22 to $24 a square foot and a separate 5,850 square foot piece is for sale for $1.3 million. The two building, two-story complex is within walking distance of downtown Winslow and has parking in the rear.
Another development that is about ready to break ground is The Meridian on Bainbridge Island located on Knechtel Way NE, next to Helpline House. Like several other planned projects, the Meridian is a mixed-used development that combines luxury condos with a medical complex and underground parking.

The three-story development will include a first floor medical office, concierge and café lounge, second floor residential suites, library, lounge and service area, and third floor residential suites and swim spa.

Leasing rates are $24 a square foot on the first floor, which prices for the approximately 18 condos (692 to 1591 square feet) range from $225,000 to $512,000. The developer, Malibu Corp. of Bainbridge Island, hopes to break ground in the next 30 days.

Around the block, a mixed-use project dubbed the Rosebud Building is planned for a lot on the north side of Madrona Way, south of Wyatt and east of Madison. The multi-story development is comprised of 4,600 square feet of office space on the ground floor and an underground parking garage. The second story will include four two-bedroom apartments ranging from 970 to 1,260 square feet. The Djordjovich Family Trust is the developer.

Morrie and Kathy Blossom’s project at Historic Lynnwood Center — Lynwood Commons — is under way. The mixed-used development, which took seven years to earn approval, is located along Rich Passage on the south end of Bainbridge. The development will include leaseable retail and office space set for occupancy this summer and studio, one-and-two bedroom apartments.

While precious little new light manufacturing space has come on stream on the island in recent years, two developments promise to change that trend. Mills Hardwood Flooring Inc. is completing a new building in the Olympic Glass warehouse complex on Sportsmen’s Club Road. The building will house the company’s operation, which are now on Day Road, and lease out to other tenants. Mills is the builder.

Craig Clark of Johansson Clark Real Estate is representing a 7.5-acre parcel on Sportsmen Club that is zoned light manufacturing and is for sale for $5 a square foot. The land, owned by the Brown family of Edmonds, can be subdivided into 20,000 square foot lots and/or sold in two separate parcels.

“It would be a heck of a project for a small, industrial park that’s close in, near the highway and town,” says Clark.

(Editor’s Note: Kevin Dwyer is a Bainbridge Island free-lance writer)..