American Baptist Homes of the West recently opened the Pearl on Oyster Bay senior apartments at 550 Russell Road, within the Bay Vista Hope VI neighborhood developed by the Bremerton Housing Authority on the old 83-acre Westpark public housing site.
The three-story U-shaped building wraps around a central courtyard to encourage residents to engage with one another. It has 80 one-bedroom units, each about 540 square feet. Apartments were designed for aging adults, with wide doorways, low-profile transitions, slip-resistant floors, ample lighting and other amenities that enhance independent living.
Total development cost was $21.1 million, including more than $800,000 worth of public roads and utilities. US Bank financed $11.4 million of the project by purchasing low-income housing tax credits through the state Housing Finance Commission. HUD provided $9.7 million in Section 202 capital funds and ongoing operating subsidies that allow American Baptist to lease the apartments to extremely low-income seniors.
Beacon Development Group of Seattle was the developer, Environmental Works was the designer and Walsh Construction Co. was the general contractor. Environmental Works is a nonprofit community design center.
Other team members were BCRA (civil design), Barker Landscape Architects, Swenson Say Faget, Emerald Aire, Robison Engineering, Ahearn Electric, AVA Siding, Tapani Plumbing, Werner Services (painting), RV Associates (excavation), RDF Construction, PSA (drywall), Tres West Engineers and Superior Structures.
The Bay Vista Hope VI neighborhood is being developed into a mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhood that will contain at least 660 living spaces.
Link to the article in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.