Home Sales Begin for New Grove Neighborhood in Grow Community

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA. 6.30.14 – Advance reservations are now underway for Grow Community 2, a sustainable, solar-powered community on Bainbridge Island.

Grow Community’s latest phase will bring two new neighborhoods, the Grove and the Park, featuring a mix of townhomes, single-level homes and single-family residences. Homes in the Grove will be arrayed around a quiet native woodland, while the Park’s residences will flank a broad open green. A community center for use by residents unites these neighborhoods and the Village, which is nearing completion.

“We’re very excited to be embarking on this next phase of the community,” said Jeff Sharp, Grow Community development manager. “In designing and building the Grove and the Park, we are completing our vision of providing an enriching place to live – one that provides opportunities to age in place, enjoy the benefits and satisfaction inherent with intergenerational living and doing it all in a sustainable and healthy community.”

Accessible floor plans promote Grow Community’s goal of intergenerational living. Sixty percent of the new neighborhoods will be dedicated to green space and community gardens, and most parking will be underground.

Sales begin with the Grove neighborhood for 49 homes in the Salal, Juniper and Tsuga, featuring two- and three-bedroom single-level homes; the Elan townhomes, which include four two-bedroom and four three-bedroom two-story homes; and the Woodland, two-bedroom, single-family attached residences.

The sales office opens July 12-13 at 180 Olympic Drive SE next to the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal, just 35 minutes from downtown Seattle. For more details see www.growbainbridge.com

Grove neighborhood completion and owner occupancy is set for 2015. Sales for the Park neighborhood, also offering a variety of home designs, will be announced later this year.

The Grove and the Park are designed by the award-winning firm Cutler Anderson Architects.

Grow Community’s first neighborhood, the Village, broke ground in 2012 and all homes promptly sold out, indicating strong demand for the innovative One Planet Living concepts on which the community is based. Construction of multifamily units in the Village will be completed this summer. All units are preleased, and there is a strong waiting list for future vacancies.

Developed by Asani, a Bainbridge Island company committed to creating sustainable living, Grow Community is an intentional neighborhood designed for an intergenerational mix of residents with a range of floor plans ideal for families, young professionals and seniors. Grow Community is adjacent to Winslow town center and a short distance from the ferry terminal.

Possibility, Connection, Happiness

During a rigorous two-year concept phase, Asani invited participation from the local community and asked the question, “What kind of a neighborhood do you want to live in?” What emerged was an idea for a new kind of community, based around the ideals of health and happiness, possibility, and deeper connections with the community and the land.

The Grow design team adopted the One Planet Living framework to guide planning and development. Based on the 10 principles of sustainability developed by BioRegional and The World Wildlife Fund, One Planet Living envisions communities in which people everywhere can enjoy a high quality of life within the productive capacity of the planet.

Grow Community’s first phase, the Village, was endorsed as only the fifth One Planet Community in the world and the first residential project in the United States.

The Grove and Park neighborhoods in the second phase are also guided by the One Planet Living framework. An example of that framework in action is the concept of a “five-minute lifestyle” where residents are close to local amenities and urban attractions in Winslow town center, reducing their dependency on automobiles. A neighborhood car-share program offers Grow residents access to an electric vehicle charged by a solar-powered station – a unique zero-carbon option.

Largest solar community in Washington state

With the goal of making zero-carbon living both attainable and affordable, Asani partnered with local solar companies to develop an optional solar package for every home in the Village. This option continues in phase 2, with solar offered on all residential units including townhomes, single-level residences and single family homes. The package makes it easy for owners to understand the upfront costs and the financing strategy. It also explains the federal tax credits that are available and how the solar energy that is produced can pay for the cost of the system while dramatically reducing or altogether eliminating a resident’s electric bill.

“We wanted to make it easy to live a more sustainable lifestyle, so it was a simple decision to provide a well thought out program for adding solar energy to our homes,” said Jeff Sharp, Grow Community development manager. “At the end of the day, this approach worked very well for our residents and that allowed the community to achieve the distinction of becoming the largest solar community in the state.”
More information is available at www.growbainbridge.com

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ABOUT ASANI: Bainbridge Island-based Asani is a community of planners, architects, contractors and developers working to positively impact communities and the environment with profitable projects that are both socially responsible and ecologically sustainable. Past and current projects include Vineyard Lane, Island Gateway, the Kids’ Discovery Museum, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and Grow Community.

Grow Community on Bainbridge gets ready for the second phase

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June 24, 2014

By JOURNAL STAFF

The first phase has 41 units and is nearly complete, with single-family houses, duplexes and apartments. All the houses have been purchased and all the rental units are leased. This would’ve been an amazing investment opportunity for a real estate investor to add to their portfolio. The potential profit of a project like this would be huge, that’s why it can be difficult to come across projects like this one. However, to ensure you’re ready for the next real estate investment opportunity, it might be worth visiting Roofstock to ensure you understand all aspects of investing in properties.

PHC Construction is seeking subcontractors and suppliers for the second phase of an 8-acre development on Bainbridge Island called Grow Community.

A total of 49 residential units are planned in this phase, including four single-family houses, eight townhouses and three condo buildings with 12 to 13 units apiece, as well as a community building.

Bids and qualifications are being accepted through Wednesday. Contact PHC Construction for more information.

Grow Community is in Winslow town center, about a mile from the ferry terminal, at Wyatt Way Northwest and Grow Avenue Northwest.

The first phase has 41 units and is nearly complete. There are 17 single-family houses, two duplexes and two apartment buildings with 10 units each.

Home sizes range from 1,100 to 1,850 square feet. Prices for the for-sale units go from the low $300,000s to more than $570,000, according to Kitsap County records. Apartment rents range from $975 to $1,975.

All the houses have been purchased and all the rental units have been leased in the first phase, according to a spokesman for Grow Community.

There is a wait list for apartments, the spokesperson said. Some of the current renters are waiting for units in Grow to be built so they can purchase them.

Adding condos to the second phase came from requests from house hunters who want single-level homes that are more accessible, the spokesman said.

The second phase will be built in two parts. The first half has been planned but feedback from new residents will help determine the mix of units in the second half, which will add another 40 units.

The next round of construction is expected to begin in late summer. This will include the basics of every apartment from the front entrance to the bathroom, where companies such as glassshowerdirect.com will be used.

The architect for the second phase is Cutler Anderson Architects of Bainbridge Island. Asani is the developer. Grow Community is owned by an investment group.

Homes in Grow are designed to be solar-ready and very green, with low-flow fixtures, low-VOC materials, and appliances and building envelopes that are energy efficient.

Grow Community is one of nine endorsed One Planet Communities around the world, and the second in the U.S. The British-based One Planet Communities program is focused on creating a network of the world’s greenest neighborhoods, and puts an emphasis on lifestyles as well as green buildings.

Read article here.

Copyright ©2014 Seattle Daily Journal and djc.com.

Introducing the Grove & the Park

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Grow Community’s first neighborhood, the Village, set a new standard for comfortable, sustainable urban living with its cluster of beautifully designed, energy-efficient single-family homes. Now come the Grove and the Park, two new neighborhoods of high-quality, sustainable homes surrounding lush public greens and a shared community center. The garden spaces, healthy transportation options and low-carbon designs of the Village are here too — along with those solar-ready roofs — this time in a new mix of designs including townhomes and single-level homes.

Very soon we will begin pre-selling homes in the Grove and are opening a sales office at 180 Olympic Drive SE on Bainbridge Island – just a 2 minute walk from the ferry terminal. We invite you to come and learn about this beautiful new phase of Grow Community.

We hope you’ll join us for our Grand Opening weekend – July 12 & 13th, 12-5pm.

Click here to see map

grandopening-banner

Auburn University’s School of Real Estate Development tours Grow

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Friday, June 20th we had a visit from students within Auburn University’s School of Real Estate Development.

The program primarily has working professionals in the building, development, and real estate industries in a 2 year masters program.

For their Northwest trip they were focused on sustainable development, which gave us an opportunity to discuss different certification programs, response from the market, risks within this market, and how their region has reacted to the idea of more efficient, sustainably developed residential communities.  It seems it continues to be a hard sell in the Southeast with little support in incentives and educational programs.

The group was very excited and inspired by what we are doing.

Trees for Global Benefits visiting Grow

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Pauline, the Director of Trees for Global Benefits was visiting at Grow this last week.  This program sells carbon offsets to provide funds supports farmers in Uganda, providing funds to help them plant trees and manage their land.  Carbon offsets are sold to help fund the program which creates sustainable livelihoods for families in Uganda.  The revenue from the carbon offsets and from well-managed agricultural land helps them to get loans, to pay for school fees, to buy food for their children.  Grow supports Trees for Global Benefits on an ongoing basis.

For more information about Trees for Global Benefits see this video

Or go to their website: http://www.planvivo.org/projects/registeredprojects/trees-for-global-benefits-uganda/

Building for Wellness: The Business Case – Urban Land Institute

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DOES WELLNESS MAKE BUSINESS SENSE AS A DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE?
How have developers pursued this objective? What has the market response been? And how have developers measured their success?

Grow Community is featured in this publication by Urban Land Institute as a case study on building for wellness.

Building for Wellness provides answers directly from developers who have completed projects with wellness intentions. In 13 sets of interviews, developers explain their motivation, their intended wellness and health outcomes, the development process and operations as related to their health intentions, and the key issue in this publication—the metrics of market performance.

Click here to read the publication.

Setting New Standards of Efficiency

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Two members of the Grow team, Dylan Sievertson (PHC) and Greg Lotakis (Asani), recently joined other builders within NEEA’s (Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance) Phase 1 of the Next Step Homes Program to discuss the future of our residential built environment. For the past year NEEA has been monitoring 12 pre-selected homes (including the Everett at Grow) from builders across the Northwest with the goal to determine new methods and specifications for high performing homes. Each of these high performing homes focused on energy efficiency, better indoor air quality, and (for some) the pursuit of Net Zero energy use.

The half day roundtable was used to share data, lessons learned, and open dialogue amongst the group of builders. The Everett was featured as a top performer and much was learned about the systems that were incorporated to make this home a leading example in home efficiency.

NEEA is getting set to begin Phase 2 of the program and Grow will again likely have another home monitored.

Click here to learn more about the Next Step Homes Program and Grows involvement.

Historic Honoring Ceremony of Government Way

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On Thursday, March 20th our community came together under a sunny spring day to celebrate, remember, and share stories of some of those that came before us in the area that has become Grow Community Bainbridge. Community Organizers Karen Vargas and Kathryn Keve did a tremendous job working to bring people together to appropriately honor the history of our ‘place’ at Grow. We had a tremendous turn out of the greater community, military, and past and present residents at Grow/Government Way complete with an emotional ‘decommissioning’ and presentation of the flag for the military housing along Government Way.

Our hope and dream is to honor our past history by developing a new community that is intentional about its future and impact on this world.

Click photos below to view our slideshow from the event.  Photography by David Cohen.

Patriotism abounds at decommissioning ceremony for former military housing – Kitsap Sun

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March 26th, 2014 
by Ethan Fowler

Tom Vargas said giving a proper closure to a subdivision that served as government housing was one of the best things about participating last Thursday in the decommissioning of a Bainbridge street formerly known as Government Way from 1957 to 2007.

Tom, and his wife Karen, lived on the street for 10 years starting in 1994. Tom donated an American flag that was used on the USS Alabama submarine at Bangor. The flag was used during Thursday’s ceremony to conclude the event.

Karen, along with Kathryn Keve and others, worked hard to collect the names of former residents, other stories and historical facts that were tied to the 16-house street. Karen retired from the Army.

Tom served on the USS Alabama with frequent Government Way visitor Brian Moss, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristic attacks while working at the Pentagon. The two friends enjoyed barbecuing together.

“It’s pretty cool,” Tom said after the decommissioning ceremony. “A lot of stuff gets closed and not a big deal is made and you come back a year later and it’s gone. This gives me closure because this was the majority of where I lived during my (military) career.”

Bainbridge Mayor Anne Blair said the ceremony was “nicely done all the way around.”

“Home is where our stories begin and this was a day of stories and it will continue to be,” Blair said.

Installation Notes: Welcome To The Net-Zero Neighborhood – Solar Power World

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March 11, 2014: By Andrew Merecicky

Residents of Bainbridge Island, Wash., led by Asani Development Initiatives, are re-imagining what a residential community could be. Even more impressive than its community gardens and car share program, the Grow Community is on track to be the largest planned solar-ready neighborhood in Washington State.

The housing development is designed to be a net-zero energy community, and is one of seven such endorsed projects by the One Planet Living program. Asani has also partnered with two Washington-based companies, BlueFrog Solar and A&R Solar, to develop an installation-ready solar package around which each home in the Grow Community is specifically designed.

The solar systems are intended to provide 100% of the energy demand of each house. The roofs of each structure were carefully designed to support the required number of solar panels. The installation package available to homebuyers features the Washington-based itek Energy‘s PV panels and APS America‘s microinverters.

Model homes on Grow Avenue NW. September 26, 2012. Credit: Anthony Rich 

“The variety of rooflines that make a project like Grow so visually interesting can be a challenge for solar systems, which rely on PV arrays being optimally oriented toward the sun,” says Kelly Samson CEO of APS America. “Unlike regular ‘string’ inverters, APS microinverters maximize output and allow monitoring of individual panels, optimizing the productivity of the whole array at all points in the sun’s daily arc across the sky.”

The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase, which is presently nearing completion, will contain 18 single-family homes, six town houses and 20 multi-family rental units. Two more neighborhoods, referred to as “neighborhood 2.0″ and “3.0″ respectively, are still in the design stages. Homeowners have the standing option to install a solar system or not, providing customers with flexibile options regarding installation timing and financing.

“The project is being constructed in three phases to reduce risk and to allow the development team to apply lessons learned in each phase to the subsequent phase,” says Marja Preston, president of Asani Development. “We were confident that the solar community would work as we had a long interest list prior to placing the homes on the market. All of the homes were presold before construction began, an indication that there is strong interest, not only in solar homes, but in solar homes in a connected, walkable community.”

The first solar modules installed on Grow model homes. July 13, 2012.
Credit: Jonathan Davis

Phase II, containing neighborhood 2.0 and 3.0, will involve building 88 more homes. Housing options will consist of a mix of two-story town houses, single-level houses and apartments in three-story buildings. Additionally, residential parking will be underground to maximize the community’s green space. The second phase is also going to include the community center building and a childcare facility in its construction. Every structure in the community is built solar-ready.

The ultimate goal of the project was to design a repeatable model for a net-zero energy housing development, a task which, Preston says, was accomplished.

“The biggest challenge for our team was to design a net-zero energy single-family home that could be built and sold for a reasonable price. The goal for the project was to demonstrate a profitable and therefore replicable net-zero energy residential real estate development. We absolutely met that challenge,” Preston says .

Bainbridge is an ideal location for such an innovative project, because tax rebates in Washington make possible an affordably-priced solar option. This is one of the reasons Preston sees a promising future for Grow and similar green community development in Washington.

“The fact that almost all the homebuyers have chosen the solar option is an indication that the strategy for adding solar that we created with BlueFrog and A&R has been successful and is entirely replicable in other housing developments in the state.”

Installation Notes:

Panel type: 240 and 270W itek Energy
Microinverters: YC200, YC500 APS America
Racking and Mounting: SunModo Racking Systems
Monitoring: APS Energy Communication Unit/Energy Monitoring and Analysis
Output: 2.9 kW to 8.9 kW per housing unit.
Installation Crew: A&R Solar
Installation Dates: June 2012 – ongoing project

Read article here: http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2014/03/installation-notes-welcome-net-zero-neighborhood/