Pulte Homes’ 275 Degrees Latest Entry in BI Condo Market
There was a time and place on Bainbridge Island when most new residential development was of the single-family home variety. Think North Town Woods, Hidden Cove Estates, North Hill, Commodore West and Lynwood Center.
But those days are gone. Over the past 10-15 years, the island has seen the emergence of multi-family condo and town home developments centered mostly in-and-around the greater Downtown Winslow core. Think Harbor Square, the Grow Community, Sakai Village, Vineyard Lane, the Winslow Mews, among others.
The latest entry into this popular housing segment is the unusually named “275 Degrees” town homes located on the corner of Madison Avenue and Wallace Way. The property, developed by Pulte Homes of Bellevue, includes 24 units – half of which have been spoken for – that range in size from roughly 1700 square feet to just over 2400 square feet.
The larger units that include three bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a two-car garage start at an asking price of $1.1 million, while the smaller units that include two bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a two garage start at an asking price of $976,000.
“We were looking to expand to desirable places outside of the greater Seattle area,” says Pulte Sales Consultant April McCray. “Kitsap County was one of those places.”
Besides Bainbridge Island, Pulte is already constructing in, or is planning to construct, in Kingston, Silverdale and Port Orchard. It acquired its Bainbridge property on Madison 18 months ago from a local landowner who had already worked with the city on design and permitting.
“It was turn-key,” recalls McCray. “We wanted to build something that is brand new and one of a kind… We wanted to emulate a unique Northwest architectural style (and) we think it came out that way.”
In addition to the varying sizes of its units, 275 Degrees offers residents’ outdoor barbecues, a bocce ball court, a fire pit, a conversation patio and lots of landscaping. “People can enjoy the amenities without having to maintain them,” notes McCray.
She says the moniker “275 Degrees” is a branding concept that serves two purposes: differentiating Pulte’s multi-family projects from its single-family ones, along with representing the distance in degrees its multi-family developments are located from Seattle’s Space Needle.
Due to the Pandemic along with supply, building material and construction delays, the Bainbridge project took longer to build than originally anticipated. Models weren’t available for display until last November, McCray recalls.
“We would have expected to be sold out by this time,” says McCray, who has been surprised by the development’s customer base. “We thought we would attract more people from Seattle looking for this lifestyle, but the ferry still seems to be an issue… What we are seeing are people (buyers) who live on the island and want to move into smaller places that are private and lovely and are closer-in (to downtown Winslow). Walking distance is a big desire.”
McCray says the vast majority of buyers in 275 Degrees are “50-plus, very active adults,” with a handful of additional buyers from out of state who were or are looking for a “summer home” or a “change in lifestyle.”
Meanwhile, Pulte’s Kingston project is well underway with 450 single-family homes going up near the White Horse Golf Course. Models of the 1700 square feet to 3,000 square feet homes will be available to look at later this summer, McCray says.
In Port Orchard, the company just completed 30 single-family homes off the McCormack Woods Golf Course, and in Silverdale it is looking to start another single-family-home development sometime next spring.
For more information, check out: https://www.pulte.com/homes/washington/seattle/bainbridge-island/275-degrees-210650
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