New 18-home neighborhood planned for Madison Avenue

By Brian Kelly • January 2, 2018 3:30 pm

A Poulsbo developer hopes to build a new 18-home neighborhood on Madison Avenue just north of downtown Winslow.

The new subdivision is called Madison Place, and would be built on a parcel of land that’s a little less than an acre in size at 671 Madison Ave. West. According to documents submitted to the city by Central Highlands, Inc., the Poulsbo developer pursuing the project, the new neighborhood will include 14 detached single-family homes, and four duplex townhomes.

A home/shop built in the 1950s currently sits on the heavily forested property, and would be demolished to make way for the new residences.

City officials have been reviewing plans for the project since last summer, and the city recently wrapped up its environmental review of the project.

The developers estimate that 50 to 70 people will live in the new neighborhood.

“Our project is intended to serve young professional families from both Bainbridge and Seattle with efficient commuting by ferry to Seattle’s downtown work centers,” the company said in its project description for Madison Place. “The project will also serve ‘empty nesters’ as many of our home models can and will be handicap accessible to enable ‘aging in place.’ We are planning to provide access to both the Wallace Cottages park/playground and pea patch to create needed ‘home based’ activities that are difficult to provide in high density developments.”

According to the environmental checklist for the project, the developers plan to remove 32 “significant trees” (30 Douglas fir and two madronas).

Other vegetation that does not meet the city’s definition of significant trees will also be removed; that includes additional Douglas fir and madronas, and 40 holly bushes.

The developers note that a 20-foot buffer will be retained on the edge of the property, which includes “about 20 Douglas firs, madronas and holly shrubs,” according to the checklist.

New street trees and landscaping plantings are planned.

The homes will average roughly 1,300 square feet in size, and will be priced at less than $600,000, “which will be at the ‘entry” level of new homes on Bainbridge,” according to the developer.

The city is currently accepting comments on the environmental review of the project; the deadline for comments is Friday, Jan. 5.

Central Highlands, Inc., the developer of the Madison Place project, has built and sold more than 350 homes, with over 10 residential communities, in Kitsap County, according to the company’s website.

Other projects include Poulsbo Place II in Poulsbo, Broadmoor Village in Bremerton, and on Bainbridge, the neighborhoods of Fernbrook, Weaver Creek and Stonecress.