Artist rendering of Harborside Condominium project slated to break ground shortly

The revitalization of downtown Bremerton has been well publicized and much talked about. The first visible fruit of this effort was the Bremerton Harborside development, which includes the Kitsap Conference Center, adjoining Kitsap Transit office and retail center, and the new Hampton Inn and Suites. Shortly after the Kitsap Conference Center’s August grand opening, the new Norm Dicks Government Center opened its doors for business in October.

The frenetic pace of revitalization, the result of hard work by the city of Bremerton, Kitsap Consolidated Housing Authority, the Navy, private developers, and others, continues, with new projects still underway.

“We’re moving along,” said Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman.

Notable next steps in the evolution of the city’s downtown space include the recent groundbreaking for Anthony’s Homeport Restaurant at its waterfront location at Bremerton Harborside. If development goes according to schedule the restaurant should be open by the end of the year. Construction is also slated to begin this summer on the Harborside condominium project. The Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority announced at the end of April that it had selected a contractor — Puyallup-based Absher Construction Co — to work on the housing authority’s two-building, 78-unit luxury condominiums.

Interested parties have already reserved more than half of the 78 units, which will range in price from $312,000 for one-bedroom units to a little more than $1.2 million for penthouse suites.

Construction of the Bremerton Harborside Park is about to get underway, as well. The first step to building the park, which will run beside the Bremerton ferry terminal and extend down First Street and Pacific Avenue, is the removal, by the US Navy, of a swath of buildings in that area recently purchased as part of its security efforts. The park project will include a greenbelt area, a new naval museum to be housed in the old Navy Building 50, a memorial plaza, and public meeting areas.

The Navy has donated much of the land for the park to the city and Building 50 was relocated to its new home several months ago.

“The park will give us a great buffer between the industrialized area of the shipyard and what we’re trying to do with downtown: create a pedestrian center for people,” said Mayor Bozeman.

The city is also looking for investors to get involved in a project to build another hotel downtown, close to the Kitsap Conference Center.

“We very much believe that downtown needs another hotel,” said Mayor Bozeman, noting that the conference center has had to turn away some business due to a lack of sufficient downtown hotel space.

The city of Bremerton plans to purchase the old Kitsap Credit Union building downtown, once the credit union’s new downtown offices are complete, and convert the building into public safety offices.

Meanwhile, the old city hall building is in the process of being sold to Seattle-based John Radovich Development Co. Mayor Bozeman expects that sale to be finalized in the next few weeks. Future plans for that building have not yet been made public.

Other downtown redevelopment projects in the works include the conversion of the Olympic Building on Pacific Avenue into a multi-tenant building. Rich McDonald, of Bremer Trust, the owner of the 25,000 square foot building, said the building would have around 10 tenants when it reached full occupancy and is currently about 80 percent occupied.

Another Bremer Trust project downtown is the 42,000 square foot Bremer-Wycoff Building, also on Pacific. Originally a retail department store, and then converted to offices for the Navy, Bremer Trust is in the design phase to convert its last vacant building into multi-tenant office and retail space. McDonald expects the project to go to permits in October, and require around six months of construction.

A short distance from the heart of downtown, the Perry Avenue Mall recently changed hands, with the Mentor Company selling the property to a Seattle couple. What plans, if any, the new owners may have for the retail space, are not public as of yet.

Not as dramatic as new construction or major gut and remodels, but still an important indicator that the spirit of revitalization is truly taking hold of business owners in the city, a number of buildings are having their exteriors improved and updated.

“A lot of money is being spent on facelifts,” said Victor Ulsh, of Bradley Scott Commercial Real Estate. “The amount of renovation in downtown Bremerton is really spurring others to fix things up.”.