The largest residential development ever proposed in Poulsbo would place more than 600 housing units at the city’s northern edge if approved by city leaders this spring.
Edward Rose & Sons, a Michigan-based development and property management firm, is planning a mix of senior and family housing and retail space at the corner of Bond Road and State Route 305. Representatives from the company say the project is part of its plan to expand.
“We’re in Poulsbo because it’s a great community. It’s got a diversified economic base, which is what we’re looking for,” said Paul Mott of Edward Rose.
The 55.2-acre site would include 540 one- and two-bedroom row house-style apartments, a 160-unit senior living facility and 2.7 acres of commercial real estate, according to design plans submitted to the city. The city is anticipating the project to accommodate between 1,200 and 1,300 residents when fully built, a roughly 15 percent boost to Poulsbo’s population.
Edward Rose has hired a team of Kitsap engineers and architects to pursue the development, which is estimated to cost between $40 million and $60 million.
The company hopes to close on the property in April and start construction by early 2012. The development would be built in phases, Mott said.
“We’re trying to make a real active area there where people are encouraged to get out and walk around and intermix with each other,” he said. “It becomes more of a walkable community, more in line with some of the sustainable development that people are turning to these days.”
The project must first be approved by the Poulsbo City Council, which is expected to hold a public hearing on the issue this spring, after an official project application is complete, city Planning Director Barry Berezowsky said.
Because the site is being developed as a master plan, the city’s first since College Marketplace, there is increased flexibility for design. There are plans for 12 to 13 units per acre, instead of the standard 10 units, and increased heights to accommodate pitched roofs.
“There’s a lot of discretion in the process,” said Berezowsky. “We want it to be as positive an impact on the comunity and landscape as we can make it.”
The land at SR 305 and Bond is currently forested and hilly, with wetland areas that would be preserved, according to project designs. In this type of project, the developer is responsible for paying for and providing infrastructure, including roads, sewer and storm water systems, trails and open spaces, Berezowsky said.
The development will join Poulsbo’s handful of apartment complexes and senior housing communities. A 250-unit apartment complex is still planned for the Olhava area, but the city is waiting for a developer to take on the project, Berezowsky said.
The Edward Rose apartments will target moderate income professionals, namely those in the medical and military community, Mott said.
Edward Rose has teamed with a Minnesota senior housing management company to develop and manage the senior housing in its Poulsbo development, as well as a similar one being constructed in Memphis.
The company historically holds onto the developments it builds. It began single family home development in the 1920s and moved into apartment development and maintenance in the 1960s. Since it has constructed more than 60,000 units and still owns and operates 57,000 of them, most in the Midwest.
“We make an invested interest in each project we do,” said Michael Colman of Edward Rose. “We’re not looking to build this and flip it. We’re looking to hold this long-term.”
