SILVERDALE — Housing Kitsap will open its new headquarters in Silverdale by September.
After purchasing the former John L. Scott building on the corner of Bucklin Hill Road and Mickelberry Road, Housing Kitsap will soon be stationed in a location more central to its service area and more accessible to all of Housing Kitsap’s clients throughout Kitsap County, according to a press release issued by the agency.
“Housing Kitsap serves people with housing needs all over Kitsap County, except within the City of Bremerton,” said Stuart Grogan, executive director of Housing Kitsap, “and so it makes sense for us to move to a more central spot to better meet the needs of our clients.”
Grogan said that in addition to Silverdale being centrallly located in the county, the building they purchased is also close to bus services.
“It is also near many other services that people are already in town for, such as medical appointments,” Grogan said. “We wanted Housing Kitsap’s office to be convenient for everyone to access. We will also conserve resources, which will save time and money that we can use to better support our programs.”
Housing Kitsap manages, preserves and builds safe, affordable housing serving individuals, families and communities throughout Kitsap County. It was formed in 1982 to address the housing needs in Kitsap County, including the cities of Port Orchard, Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo. Housing Kitsap currently provides more than 900 homes to low- and moderate-income individuals and families throughout Kitsap, serving more than 2,000 people.
Staff members will start the move to the new headquarters as early as August, and will be fully moved by the end of September, ahead of Housing America Month in October.
The building, purchased for $1,827,500, is a one-story, 8,000-square-foot office and retail building. Purchased on May 31, Housing Kitsap started some minor renovations with safety and energy-efficiency upgrades, as well as updating the layout to better suit the 34 on-site staff members.
Housing Kitsap’s current office space in the Norm Dicks Government Center in Bremerton was sold to the City of Bremerton. The money from that sale will pay for the purchase and rehabilitation of the new building, according to the press release.
“The office move is exciting, but it is not all we are working on right now,” Grogan said. “We own and operate (more than) 900rental units throughout Kitsap County, and are in the planning and development stages of adding even more to our portfolio, ramping up our resident services program with fresh ideas, building self-help housing in Kingston and Port Orchard and keeping our rehabilitation program busy repairing homeowners’ houses to reinforce sustainability.
Housing Kitsap’s new office is at 2244 NW Bucklin Hill Road, Silverdale. They can be reached at 360-535-6100. Learn more at www.housingkitsap.org.
Housing Kitsap’s mailing address change will take effect the first week of September 2017. The organization’s phone, fax and email addresses will remain the same.
— Michelle Beahm is online editor for Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.
