By Josh Farley
Kitsap Sun
BREMERTON — A long-buried outhouse, excavated from the grounds of the Marina Square apartment project on the Bremerton waterfront in 2019, seemed merely a hiccup of a developmental delay at the time.
But the ceramic pipes, leather fragments and other remnants that required a work stoppage for study by an archeologist turned out to be just the beginning of the hardships developers of Bremerton’s priciest single real estate project would have to overcome.
The global pandemic didn’t just stop work on the $140 million apartment towers. A hotelier backed out as COVID-19 spread around the world, as did the insurance company covering the project. For the bulk of a year, an exposed concrete and partially stick-framed structure sat unchanged. But the bills — around $10,000 a day — kept piling up.
“We were too far along to give up,” said Jack Paauw, a partner with Bremerton-based Sound West Group, as he toured the Kitsap Sun through completed units earlier this month. “We had to see it through.”
Fully a year-and-a-half or so behind schedule, Sound West Group is now close to the finish line. Paauw said the project’s 280 total units could be granted a certificate of temporary occupancy by Thanksgiving. Tree planting, some concrete work and final touchups will soon give way to moving vans bringing in the first residents.
They’ll have two options for housing: the north tower, called “Shearwater,” will be priced at the market rate. A south tower, known as “Fleethouse,” will come furnished as “workforce” housing that is common in the shadow of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Paauw pointed out that, if a hotelier ever wanted to come back, the units could be easily converted.
Sound West Group is advertising units at Marina Square for between about $1,400 for a studio to $3,800 for a two-bedroom high rise. The project comes with a “sawtooth” window design that ensures nearly every unit has a view of Sinclair Inlet.
Paauw, along with longtime Sound West Group CEO Wes Larson and others on the development team had to sometimes get creative to keep the project, Washington state’s first “opportunity zone” candidate, moving.
During stalled global supply chains, developers ordered washers, dryers and other appliances a year in advance, storing them in the completed 376-unit parking garages until each unit was ready for them. And when roofing insulation got delayed, contractor Compass Construction installed a temporary roof that was enough coverage to get electrical and drywall subcontractors permission from the state to get working. (In effect, both towers have two roof structures as a result.)
Larson called the Marina Square project the most difficult of his career, one that required a team effort to think creatively about how to solve logistical challenges.
“To get it over the line is just a huge achievement for us,” he told the Kitsap Sun.
The next challenge: filling the units at a time when demand appears to be slowing. The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, and a crew of about 3,000 sailors, will depart Bremerton for its new homeport of San Diego in February after an overhaul at the shipyard. Other apartment units are slated to open around Bremerton late this year and early next year, increasing supply in the area.
Barriers surrounding the Washington Avenue project will soon come down, revealing an extended Washington Avenue bike lane, restoration of two lanes of traffic and a pedestrian plaza between the towers and the waterfront that will be open to the public. Water-facing commercial space will also come to life, with a convenience store already under contract to open and another space tailor-made for a restaurant.