POULSBO — The heavy hitters Wal-Mart and The Home Depot aren’t alone on top of the hill as a bevy of new retail, commercial, financial and medical businesses have begun joining the Olhava landscape.

Nationally recognized stores like Sleep Country USA and Payless Shoes have joined regional chains like Taco Del Mar, GameStop, Starbucks and Subway as the master planned development has begun to take shape.

“It’s nice to see all of the different parts coming along,” said First Western President Mark Zenger. “It’s a total mixed-use development.”

First Western is pleased with the way the development has taken shape according to its master plan, Zenger said.

“All of the commercial and residential areas have been spoken for,” he said. “The only thing remaining is the business park.”

Based on the North End’s history with business parks, the developer knew from the start that the park would probably be the last element to be developed, he said.

“If you look at absorption rates for North Kitsap business parks, they’ve always been pretty low,” Zenger said.

As the development has grown, one of its key assets has been its master plan, he said.

“That gave us a blueprint and helped us show people what we have available and where everything ought to be,” Zenger said.

The master plan has aided in the overall marketing of the development, because interested parties are able to see what spaces might meet their needs and where they fit into the overall context of the development, Zenger said.

‘Living wage’ future

With all of the residential and commercial properties filled, the business park holds the greatest opportunity for “community, living wage” jobs, Councilman Ed Stern said.

“There’s 350,000 square feet of office park and only 13,000 has been used,” Stern said. “That potential is huge, and the office park is where the living wage jobs are going to be.”

The development has the fiber optic network necessary to support those types of jobs, he said.

“One of the things we did was approve the conduit ordinance and to First Western Associates’ credit they not only put in the conduit, but they installed the fiber,” Stern said, noting that the ordinance requires developers to install four-inch conduit for future fiber optic networks.

The city knew that the big-box retailers would be the first to arrive, so it was no surprise when Wal-Mart and The Home Depot took the lead, he said.

“The last wave will be the office park, and that’s where community based, living wages jobs lie,” Stern said. “The best is still in front of us.”

OC benefits as well

Olympic College was the first major component to sink its roots in Olhava when it open its doors in 2004.

“It used to be us and a whole bunch of geese,” said OC-Poulsbo director Kelly Woodward.

Now that Wal-Mart, The Home Depot and all of the other retail stores have joined the campus, the impact has been a positive one for both students and staff, Woodward said.

“I think it’s definitely a benefit to our students, because now they have options if they want to grab a bite to eat,” Woodward said. “There’s banking and they can get a haircut; there’s even a dry cleaner opening.”

By the numbers

That growth has been steadily reflected in the city’s sales tax reports as revenues have remained over the $200,000 mark since the January 2006 report.

The July sales tax report, which reflects sales taxes collected in May, showed a 23 percent increase over July 2005.

Retail trade accounted for 64 percent of the $243,649 collected in sales taxes in the July report compared to 54 percent of the $197,468 collected in July 2005.

In July 2005, motor vehicle sales were responsible for 59 percent of the city’s retail sales taxes, but the latest sales tax report showed that number had dropped to 33 percent.

Overall, motor vehicle sales were down by less than $9,000, but general merchandise exploded with a $32,000 increase over the same period last year.