6 Reasons to Live at Grow Community

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Grow Community offers a simpler, more intentional lifestyle where you can be mindful of your impact on the environment while focusing on what matters to you most. The nearby shops, restaurants and other amenities of Winslow town center offer convenient “5-minute living.” And with inviting gardens, parks and green spaces, Grow Community makes connections happen: neighbor to neighbor, you to the planet.

1.The Environment

Enjoy the quiet company of woodland trees and an orchard right outside your doors in the Grove; stroll the sprawling central green that gives the Park neighborhood its name. Altogether, sixty percent of these neighborhoods are dedicated to peaceful, inviting natural spaces. Parking is underground, reducing impervious surfaces and putting cars out of sight (where they belong).

 

2.One Planet Living

Our neighborhoods are designed to One Planet principles: ultra-energy-efficient homes, goals for zero emissions and waste, sustainable materials, locally grown food, resource conservation, wildlife habitat and edible landscaping, culture, happiness and health. Add them up and you have a new way to live, focused on a positive future for yourself and your world.

 

3.Solar Power 

Grow Community is the largest solar community in Washington, with every single-family home and duplex powered by photovoltaics, and rooftop solar on many townhomes and condominiums. Solar arrays are offered as a buyer’s option on every home including multifamily. And going solar has never been simpler. With today’s strong financial incentives, your solar array will keep your power bill low and even put money in your pocket, just for doing your part for a cleaner planet.

 

4.5-Minute Lifestyle

Everything your family needs for a healthy, happy lifestyle is within easy distance of Grow Community. Local merchants and grocers, the library, fine cafes and coffee shops, theaters and museums, parks, health clinics and schools … you can reach it all without ever getting behind the wheel.  We call it the “5-minute lifestyle,” and it’s just one of the features that makes Grow such an attractive choice for homebuyers seeking a simpler way of living.

 

5.Community Connections

Harvest your tomatoes and take the extras next door. Read a book under a tree and see who stops to say, “Oh, you’ll love the ending!” Or just take a quiet stroll down a neighborhood path and bump into someone new. Grow Community is designed to promote serendipity, the unexpected meeting, the little connections from which lifelong friendships spring. Grow a community together, and get as involved as much (or as little) as you want.

6.For All Ages

The neighborhoods at Grow have intergenerational living at their heart – because a true community should be as welcoming to a 73-year-old as it is to a 3-year-old. In the Grove and the Park neighborhoods, 60 percent of the homes offer single-level living with elevator access to front entries, while the community spaces invite interaction and sharing between generations year-round. And accessibility extends beyond the neighborhood. You’re just a few minutes from downtown amenities like shops, restaurants and theaters – even ice cream.

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We still have room for you in our FINAL HOMES…

Great opportunities to purchase and rent our FINAL HOMES are available in the Grove & Park neighborhoods. Beautifully designed, ultra-efficient 2 bedroom solar ready homes set a new standard for healthy, sustainable living.

Only three 2-bedroom homes remain to purchase in the Tsuga and just 6 in the Sage building.

We also have two homes that have become available to rent in our Juniper building.

Please contact our sales & leasing team for more details and to set up an appointment to tour our available homes: 206.452.6755 live@growbainbridge.com

Wishing you Health & Happiness!

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During this season of giving we would like to reach out to all those that contributed to the Grow project this year.  This has been a big year for us. While it has been a busy year, full of challenges, we are now seeing the rewards for all of the dedication and hard work of our team and our new residents.   Nothing gives us more joy than to see the smiling faces of happy families moving into their new homes.

We hope that the New Year brings all of you health, happiness and new opportunities to connect with friends and neighbors and loved ones.
From all of us on the Grow Team, Happy Holidays.

Happy ThanksGrowing!

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What a wonderful year 2017 has been for Grow Community! As we enter the season of reflection, we pause to celebrate our many successes and the friends who made it all possible.

From the very start, we set out to make Grow a showcase for eco-positive construction, with energy-saving features throughout every home. And it’s earning notice. Early in the year, Puget Sound Energy feted our energy efficiency program for multifamily buildings with a visit and presentation.

When the Urban Land Institute held its annual conference in Seattle this past spring, Grow Community was on the tour stops. We were pleased to welcome leaders in spheres ranging from development to investment, planning and design, as they came to Bainbridge Island for site visits. What a great privilege to host these national leaders in sustainable planning!

Even as the new Community Center in the Park neighborhood took shape, we couldn’t wait to share it. So we invited folks with longtime ties to the neighborhood – including Jerry Grow, a descendent of our namesake pioneer family – for a Sharing Our History gathering and reception.

Along the way we earned Built Green’s prestigious Project of the Year Award, as selected by our peers around the Northwest construction community. What an honor!

And Grow’s position as Washington’s largest planned solar community continued to bloom, as the Community Center got its own row of solar panels on the bike shelter behind the building. It’s all part of our ongoing commitment toward sustainability and energy self-sufficiency.

The Grow Community team thanks our residents, construction and sales teams, and our many supporters for their enthusiasm and hard work this past year.

With just a few more buildings to go, we’re into the Homestretch – but in this season, we celebrate simply Home: Grow Community.

We’re leading the nation in Green Power

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The US Environmental Protection Agency recently honored the City of Bainbridge Island with its Green Power of the Year Award – and Grow Community helped earn the honor.

In his report to the community, City Manager Doug Schulze cited Grow Community’s leadership.

“Adjacent to one of Bainbridge’s three neighborhood centers is Grow Community, one of the first North American communities built on the One Planet principles,” Schulze writes. “These all-electric homes have the option of installing enough PV to meet almost all of their homes’ energy demands. The homes, available for sale or rent, are populated as quickly as they are built.”

Kudos to Bainbridge Island for this great national award! Read the City Manager’s report on our national leadership in Green Power below.

How far we have grown.

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With just three buildings to go, and construction paused for the winter, let’s pause ourselves to appreciate how far Grow Community has come.

This photo puts it all in perspective – three distinctive neighborhoods, tasteful, energy-efficient homes clustered around shared green spaces, a new community center, and row upon row (upon row!) of solar panels, soaking up the sun to help power Washington’s largest planned solar community.

What a great community to be a part of! And what a great vantage to take it all in.

Photo courtesy of Kelvin Hughes

Grow settling in for winter hibernation – An October Construction & Sales Update

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We have reached an important milestone in our project. After six years, we have reduced our site work to a single building pad at the south end of the Park neighborhood, having reshaped eight acres of what is now Grow Community. We continue to see more solar go up, garden beds filled, and have enjoyed seeing new neighbors join our community and make long-lasting friendships.

Now that the Lilac and Sage are done, and the Community Center is nearing completion, we plan to pause construction for the winter. This will include additional landscaping, ramps/walks to connect our path through the entire project, and stabilization of the area that will become the Trillium and Meadow Homes.

This winter “quiet time” will allow new residents to move in, let the site be still for several months – and we’ll be ready and rested to begin final completion of work in spring 2018.

October Construction update

As we wind down work for the year, our teams are checking off minor “punch list” items throughout the Park neighborhood. All tasks in occupied and for-sale units should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Site grading is essentially complete, with stairs and ramps now shaped in the southeast corner of the grounds and concrete work set for next week. Landscaping in that area will follow – we are on schedule to beat the rain and tidy up the site for winter.

The big news is the imminent opening of our new Community Center – and does it look great! The 17-panel solar array went up on the center’s bike shelter this week, great news for sustainable use. We have a few minor items left to install, from drinking fountains to appliances, barn doors and some trim. We’ve applied to the city for building occupancy, and hope to have approval in the next few weeks.

Then we hope to see you all at the center for our annual Harvest Fest, Oct. 21!

And we still have room for you!

Grow Community still has great opportunities for buyers, starting with the Tsuga building – three units are still available, all 2-bedroom homes.

In the Lilac townhomes, 2- and 3-bedroom homes each with a generous 300-sf of private outdoor space are available. These are the only 3-bedroom units left at Grow and offer 1,600-sf of comfortable, environmentally friendly living.

Finally, we have view units available on the third floor of the Sage. Enjoy peek-a-boo views of Eagle Harbor and the Olympics. These 2-bedroom homes include large masters and generous closet space.

Contact our sales team a get a personal tour today!

New solar array powers community center

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Grow Community boosted its standing as Washington state’s largest planned solar community this week with another new photovoltaic array – this time, for the new community center.

A 17-module, 5.1-kilowatt array went up atop the bike shelter behind the community building, centerpiece of the Park neighborhood.

The south-facing array takes advantage of excellent solar exposure through the day, turning the bike shelter roof into productive solar garden to help power activities at the community center.

The system also supports the local solar industry, using certified Made In Washington solar panels by iTek Energy of Bellingham.

Installation is by A&R Solar of Seattle, who’ve completed many of the residential arrays found throughout Grow’s three solar-powered neighborhoods.

Grow Community Earns Built Green Project of the Year

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And the plaudits keep rolling in: Grow Community earned the Built Green Project of the Year award at the annual Built Green Conference in Seattle recently.

The prestigious award honors excellence in environmentally friendly residential construction in the Puget Sound region, as judged by peers in the construction industry.

“The award was unexpected, and we are deeply honored to earn it considering the unbelievable work our peers have accomplished in 2017,” says Greg Lotakis, Grow’s project manager. “Builders across our region are really pushing the envelope for sustainability, using the Built Green standards as their benchmark to serve both homebuyers and the long-term interests of the planet.”

The Grow team thanked the Built Green program, the Grow design and construction teams, and our residents – all of whom have believed in possibility and made Grow Community a reality.

The Built Green program is sponsored by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, in partnership with other Washington agencies to set standards of excellence that make a significant impact on housing, health and the environment and are readily “do-able” today.

For more information on the program see www.builtgreen.net.

Emergency Preparedness Discussion, September 14 7-9pm

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Emergency Preparedness Discussion with with Scott James, Author of
Prepared Neighborhoods

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 7-9pm

Located in the Grow Community Center

Please bring appetizers and drinks to share..

 

Contact for more details:  206.452.6755   live@growbainbridge.com

Sage advice — come to the Park and see the Lilacs. A Construction & Sales Update – August 2017

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A warm summer has brought the Park neighborhood to life, resplendent with its first round of trees, grasses, pea patches and plantings.

Centerpiece is the new Community Center, where the planter beds have already been filled by enthusiastic neighbors looking forward to future harvests. The center’s solar canopy is now in place, with system installation set for October once the roofing is done. Inside the center final painting is underway, and the building should be completed by mid-September. Watch for upcoming events here as we start to bring the community together around the use of this great new facility.

Nearby the Sage building is wrapping up nicely with some new residents already moved in, and more new neighbors arriving over the next several months. New neighbors in the Lilac townhomes will follow.

Toward the south end of the project, grading and other construction activity will begin in September. We’ll be focusing on path work and prep for Grow’s final buildings, the Trillium and Meadow Homes. There’s no timetable yet for building construction, but we should have an update in the coming weeks.

The Grove neighborhood has settled in, with just four 2-bedroom homes still available.

The Lilac townhomes now have six homes ready and waiting — three 3-bedrooms (the last 3-bedroom homes left in all of Grow Community) and three 2-bedroom units as well.

All homes in the Sage condominiums will be completed by September, meaning more purchase opportunities are about to come online. Nine 2-bedroom units are available, including third-floor with spectacular views. This is your last chance to live in a single-level home in Grow Community! Contact the sales office today for a personal tour.