This section categorizes our design choices at Grow, and how we’re using design to build a functional and beautiful built environment.

The Grove is wrapping up, now on to the Park

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Summer finds us buttoning up – that is, putting the finishing touches on Grow Community’s second neighborhood, the Grove.

Setting the pace is the Juniper at the north end of the grounds. New residents are now moving in, and the rooftop solar system is online and producing energy to offset the building’s needs. The largest planned solar community in Washington state keeps raising the bar!

The Tsuga now has its roof, with siding following in short order. Before July ends the building will look finished from the outside as work turns inward, with completion and move-in dates set for fall.
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The Woodland Homes at the south end of the Grove are nearing completion and should be finished by August. All of our buyers to date are adding solar, and you could be next – one home remains available, with an expansive 400 sf. outdoor deck among its many fine features and appointments.

And if you’ve not visited the Grove lately, you’ve missed the generous plantings that give this neighborhood its name. Landscape touchup is slated for the end of summer as the swath of young trees and shrubs begin to settle in for the cooler months.

Attention now turns to our third and final neighborhood, the Park. Work has commenced on the Sage and Lilac, where foundations are underway and should be completed by the end of this month – framing to follow, and pre-sales to be announced soon as well.

Intrigued? Why wait! Comfortable and inviting units are still available for purchase throughout the Grove. Three-bedroom homes are available for move-in today, with more 2-bedroom units coming online this fall.

Rentals, too: 2- and 3-bedroom units in the Juniper are ready immediate move-in. Visit Grow Community and see our model home today!

Construction is apace and sales are brisk at Grow phase 2, the Grove!

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We are excited to report that Salal building solar went live on April 29. It has been a long road to this point, but the building’s rooftop is now producing energy. And there’s more to come – the first round of Elan owners should be seeing solar installed later in May.

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The Woodland homes at the south end of the Grove have taken shape, along with the Tsuga bilding, with completion expected from late June through August.

Sales-wise, our rental building, the Juniper, is now fully reserved. The building should be completed with first move-ins by the end of this month.

Two units remain available in the owner-occupied Salal building – the current model home, and a three-bedroom unit. Inquire within!

Finally: Big news on our Community Center will be coming soon, and permits for our next phase the Park are now in hand. Our construction crews will continue their steady migration south to this final phase very soon.

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Construction Update: New lights, and other highlights

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grove-construction-update2-2016-562x1024Completion of the Salal building has brought some comment about the exterior stair lighting on the north side of the building along Wyatt Way. The present lights are only temporary, put in to allow the building’s first residents to move in safely.

The finished lighting design will be completed within a few weeks. We’re excited about the final look – lighting that’s both functional and subdued – and we think the community will be satisfied as well.

Meanwhile, elsewhere around the Grove:

The Elan building will be completed this month, with new residents moving in. We’re planning a “Solar Social” to introduce these homeowners to Grow Community’s solar options.

The Tsuga roof and windows all be installed in early March. Also completed in the next few weeks: finishing touches on the underground parking. The Salal’s garage elevators are already up and running.

Interior work at the Juniper is well underway and should be complete by mid-April, while the first Woodland Homes are “dried in” and ready for interior work and exterior siding.

Finally, the Grove is becoming a grove. Landscaping progress has been dramatic, with new plantings in areas behind the Elan and elsewhere around our newest neighborhood really taking shape. Expect to see new swaths of green through March – just in time for spring.

One planet, one community, and one goal: a new model for sustainable living.

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Grow Community was founded on the principles of One Planet Living, proving that from design and construction to the choices we make as neighbors, we can live within the productive capacity of the earth.

How are we doing? Find out in our “One Planet Annual Verification Report,” now available for download HERE.

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It’s Grow’s report on itself, a self-assessment of our progress toward Health and Happiness, Local Food and Sustainable Water, Culture, and other key indicators of a forward-thinking community.

1planet-reportDid you know:

  • 85 percent of Grow residents say they’re walking more, and 31 percent are biking more, since joining our community
  • More than 65 percent participate in our bountiful shared garden program
  • Every resident in our first neighborhood, the Village, has invested in a home solar system, making Grow the largest planned solar community in Washington State – and still growing as our next two neighborhoods build out!

We’re proud of our success so far, and will strive with our residents to meet the goals of One Planet Living. It’s built into Grow Community by design, and comes with the lifestyle.

Download and read the report HERE, and find out more about what Grow has to offer the earth, and you.

Now selling in the Park: Lilac townhomes and Sage single-level homes

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Grow Community’s third and final neighborhood is planned to begin construction in early 2016, with homes now for pre-sale in the Lilac and the Sage buildings.

grow-the-lilacThe Lilac townhomes offer two- and three-bedroom floor plans over two levels, with covered front porches and private back patios for entertaining. Generous natural light filters throughout each home with views of the central parkway that gives the neighborhood its name.

grow-the-sageHomes in the Sage feature single-level, open plans with ample kitchen, dining and living spaces. Floor-to-ceiling windows face the namesake greenway, with inviting decks for entertaining or gardening on all levels.

All residences enjoy the convenience of underground parking, as well as Grow Community’s fine appointments and acclaimed energy-efficient construction.

Remember that you can see these features for yourself at our new model home in the Grove neighborhood. Make an appointment today by contacting our sales team: [email protected] or 206.452.6755.

Click here for more information, purchase opportunities, and to reserve your new home in the Park neighborhood.

Grow and PHC earn Built Green Hammer award – again!

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For the second straight year, Grow Community and PHC Construction have earned the prestigious Built Green Hammer Award.

Sponsored by the Master Builders Association, the awards recognize outstanding, environmentally sustainable residential projects. Grow Community earned top honors in the Builder, Multifamily 1-50 Units category.

The award was presented this week at the annual Built Green Conference at Shoreline Community College.

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“We’re doubly proud to win a Built Green Hammer Award for the second straight year,” said PHC’s Marty Sievertson. “Our goal has always been to show what’s possible in top-quality, environmentally conscious construction. As Grow Community’s second phase, the Grove, sees occupancy this fall, we think buyers will really appreciate the care we’ve put into the project and that the Master Builders have recognized once again.”

Added Greg Lotakis, project manager for developer Asani:

“This award means a great deal to us because the Master Builders organization and Built Green program are local. We compete with the very best builders in our region for Built Green recognition, and all the builders involved provide support and encouragement to each other to help move our industry toward a sustainable future.”

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The Built Green program is designed to help buyers find quality, affordable homes that protect the health of their families and the Northwest environment. Built Green homes are designed to provide homeowners with comfortable, durable, environmentally friendly homes that are cost-effective to own and maintain.

For more information, see builtgreen.net.

August Construction Update: Under every roof, a different story. Sometimes the roof is the story.

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Work proceeds apace around the Grow phase 2 worksite this month, with eight buildings underway and in different stages of completion. Framing, drywall and roofing are the story at the Salal, Juniper and Elan buildings, those closest to occupancy projected for this fall.

At the Tsuga, the concrete deck will be completed the first week of September with framing to follow. Three of four single-family homes now have their foundations and floors ready to go, again with framing to begin soon.

In the middle of it all, we’re about to begin grading for the Grove, our newest neighborhood’s signature central greenway. We’re excited to begin planting this beautiful space, the centerpiece of Grow Community phase 2.

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Très bien! French programme Écho-Logis visits Grow Community for television feature

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A film crew from the French production house TV Only visited Grow Community last week, shooting a half-hour feature for the magazine show Écho-Logis.

camera2The program features the best examples of sustainable architecture and construction around the globe – so naturally they found their way to Bainbridge Island and Grow.

“We were looking for the greenest places in the U.S.,” says Anthony Da Silva, TV Only journaliste, who admits that while he and the producers had scouted out Grow Community online and were confident it would make a good subject, they were still startled by what they found.

“When we arrived, we were really surprised that it was much more beautiful than the pictures we saw on the web,” Da Silva says, praising Grow for building not just eco-friendly homes but also a whole simpler, low-impact lifestyle.

“It’s not only putting solar panels up and respecting the landscape where you put your house,” he says. “It’s also a feeling. For me, it’s a system, a way to work and to build and to live.”

The four-man production team spent four days on the island after filming an eco-friendly home in Los Angeles the previous week.

interview1Da Silva interviewed Jonathan Davis, architect of Grow Community’s phase one, the Village, along with project manager Greg Lotakis and various residents.

Interviews were conducted inside homes and around the Grow Community grounds and shared P-patch gardens.

A drone-mounted camera buzzed around the neighborhood throughout, zooming down pathways before soaring skyward for dramatic aerial shots of Grow’s solar energy-producing rooftops.

“It was an honor to have the Écho-Logis film crew here,” Lotakis says. “To be able to share a bit of the vision, and have the community’s voice as part of the show, was wonderful. It was a great reminder of how much has been done here that can inspire other communities.”

Écho-Logis presents “beautiful and innovative green projects all around the world by featuring the people who have conceived it, those who live in and interact with it,” producers say, while showing the environmental advantages that come with “an ethical way of building.”

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After returning to France, the team will decamp for Romania and their next feature: a woodland lodge replete with solar power and a system for recycling water.

Now in its fourth season, the Écho-Logis program can be seen on France’s TV5Monde network, available in more than 200 countries.

The Grow Community feature is expected to run late this year as part of the current 40-episode run.

Previous Écho-Logis episodes can be viewed online here.

Grow a paragon of the ‘New Urbanism,’ Professional Builder magazine says

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screen-shot-2015-08-03-at-12-19-37-pm-857x1024Public engagement, eco-friendly designs, affordable options, and diversity of home styles and offerings are hallmarks of the New Urbanism, the most significant planning movement of recent times.

Grow Community is a paragon of this forward-thinking ethos, Professional Builder magazine says in its new issue.

In the article “The Seaside Effect” (a nod to the first New Urbanist community, Seaside, built in Florida in 1980), Pro Builder fetes Grow for such enlightened features as shared pea-patch gardens, energy-efficient construction and rooftop solar power.

Proximity to Winslow town center – just a 5-minute walk from the heart of the neighborhood – allowed project designers and now residents to move beyond the demands of an automobile-centric lifestyle, toward healthier and more sustainable alternatives.

“We didn’t need to provide anything other than a residential fabric,” Jonathan Davis, Grow’s phase 1 architect, tells the magazine.

Read more about how Grow Community measures up to New Urbanist principles in Professional Builder’s July 2015 edition here – see pages 30-35.