Commissioners for Housing Kitsap have been privately discussing potential property purchases for months, according to public records obtained by the Bainbridge Review.

Documents also show the nonprofit housing authority hired a real estate broker in February to assist in the sale of property.

Housing Kitsap has been the subject of intense scrutiny on Bainbridge Island since officials with the housing authority announced earlier this month that it would sell the 550 Madison Apartments, one of three properties on Bainbridge owned by the agency that provides low-income housing.

Many in the community — as well as the residents of the 13-unit apartment complex on Madison Avenue — were caught by surprise when Housing Kitsap announced earlier this month it was going to sell the 550 Madison Apartments to a private developer.

All apartments at the 550 Madison Apartments are currently leased, but residents were only told of the sale June 5, almost a week after it was listed.

The property was listed for sale for $1.2 million on May 30.

Real estate websites show the sale of the 550 Madison Apartments as “pending sale,” as of June 10.

Though both Housing Kitsap and a Bainbridge developer have signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the property — Mike Burns of Madison Avenue Development signed a purchase contract for the property on June 6, and Housing Kitsap executive director Stuart Grogan signed the agreement June 11 — the final approval for the sale is subject to a vote by the board of commissioners for Housing Kitsap.

That vote is expected Tuesday morning in Silverdale.

Though more than a dozen entities have expressed interest in the property, including Housing Resources Bainbridge, which has said it will pay $1.5 million for the property and keep apartments available to low-income residents, the staff of Housing Kitsap is asking the board to approve the sale to Madison Avenue Development.

A total of 13 entities made offers on the property, ranging from $1 million to $2,031,000, but no other potential sales agreements have been presented to the board for approval besides the contract with Madison Avenue Development.

The board of Housing Kitsap is mostly made up of elected officials from across Kitsap County: Bainbridge Mayor Kol Medina; Port Orchard Mayor Rob Putaansuu; Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson; County Commissioners Robert Gelder, Ed Wolfe and Charlotte Garrido; and resident representative Danielle Murphy.

Records show the potential sale of the 550 Madison Apartments has been quietly in the works for months.

Meeting minutes and other documents show that commissioners have met repeatedly in closed-to-the-public executive sessions to talk about the sale of property since last fall.

And in February, Housing Kitsap hired a real estate broker in anticipation that some of the financially troubled agency’s property would be sold.

Earlier this year, Housing Kitsap posted a “request for proposals” for real estate agent or broker services.

The “request for proposals,” or RFP, was not published as a legal notice in local newspapers, but instead placed on the agency’s website. Realtors that the housing authority had worked with in the past were also notified and asked to submit proposals.

At that time, however, Housing Kitsap said professional real estate help was needed “in anticipation of potentially selling some of HK’s vacant or undeveloped properties,” according to an agenda summary of the proposals. Staff also noted that proceeds from any sale could by used by the agency without restrictions.

The board for the housing authority unanimously agreed Feb. 26 to hire Merv Killoran of Silverdale as its broker.

Killoran, who works for John L. Scott Real Estate and has been involved in property sales since 1979, is the listing agent for the 550 Madison Apartments.

Meeting records for the Housing Kitsap Board of Commissioners show that commissioners have met repeatedly in private sessions to talk about property sales since the start of the year.

Such private meetings are allowed under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act, which allows elected officials to exclude the public from meetings where the discussion of a sale or lease of property “when public knowledge regarding such consideration would cause a likelihood of decreased price.”

According to a list of offers made on the property, only one of 13 offers was less than the asking price of $1.2 million.

Mayor Medina, Bainbridge’s representative on the board of commissioners for Housing Kitsap, has been tight-lipped about the sale of one of the island’s few multi-family complexes for low-income residents. He first mentioned the potential sale only after it was listed for sale.

Medina is currently on vacation and will not attend Tuesday’s meeting where commissioners will vote on selling the 550 Madison Apartments.

Bainbridge Councilman Matthew Tirman will attend the board meeting in Medina’s place.

Tirman has vowed to vote against the sale, and in the weeks since the property was listed for sale, has been a vocal advocate for selling the apartment complex instead to Housing Resources Bainbridge so the apartments will continue as affordable housing units.

Tirman will be able to vote at the meeting on the sale, but only after he is sworn in as a commissioner for the Housing Kitsap board.

The board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 25 at Housing Kitsap, located at 2244 Bucklin Hill Road, Silverdale.