Realogics Sothebys to revive Winslow’s old hardware store

Published 10:23 am Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Every morning, before rubbing elbows with the bankers, the minister, the businessmen – really, all the men in town – who congregated at the coffee shop down the street, Don Beemer would “roll the sidewalk out” in front of Holger’s Hardware.

He’d set his display: garbage cans, lawn mowers, maybe a bicycle or two, and then begin his day.

It’s been a long while — four years and change — since the sidewalk in front of 240 Winslow Way hosted anything other than buskers and Planned Parenthood volunteers in search of signatures and donations. The location has had several iterations — mostly of the home improvement variety — since Beemer’s brother, Holger Christiansen, sold the business in the ’60s, but after Port Madison Home closed and Storyville Coffee Co. bought the building in 2011, it sat vacant: the cutesy mural under the storefront’s awning serving as the only sign of life.

Not for long, though.

Last week, executives of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) announced the signing of a long-term lease for approximately half of the 6,350-square-foot space. RSIR will consolidate its two existing Bainbridge Island locations there with a new full-service brokerage and island gallery.

Hitchcock chef-owner Brendan McGill will take most of the other half, giving Bruciato, his Monday night pizza pop-up, a place of its own.

While the announcement is notable in its own right, it would be remiss not to lavish equal attention upon the novelty of the arrangement: RSIR and Bruciato will have separate bases, but they’ll also have shared space. Architect Dana Webber has been working for months to create a community living room that will function as both a reception for the real estate brokerage and an expanded lounge for patrons of the restaurant.

“The way it all came together was very serendipitous,” RSIR president and CEO Dean Jones explained. “It was no secret we were running out of space and growing very quickly.”

Commercial broker Bror Elmquist learned of RSIR’s need and connected the company with developer Joseph Lacko, who acquired the property in January, and in turn, brought on McGill.

“We just got together and organically developed this plan to create an open lifestyle center that would be very transparent to the streetscape,” Jones added. “We were going to put in a new storefront anyway as part of the plan. So we had an opportunity to rethink how interior/exterior space can work together and how our two retail bays would work together.”

RSIR had done this sort of thing before, with its Kirkland office. There was a retail requirement in the Kirkland zoning, Jones explained, and a traditional real estate office would not have been considered true retail. As a result, the firm partnered up with DeLille Cellars to add a wine bar, Maison DeLille, inside the showroom.

“It really created the inspiration and confidence that lifestyle uses could coexist,” Jones said.

Preliminary plans for the venture at Winslow include a fireside library, an integrated showcase of properties and an art gallery.

Jones said the firm will hold events pairing food and wine with sun, snow and surf destinations from RSIR’s global network there.

“But it’s not just for real estate,” he said. “We want the location to be dynamic, a product of the neighborhood and the community.”

Jones hopes that pop-up events, like the fashion shows, puppy parades and product launches RSIR has hosted in Kirkland, will help to establish an 18-hour environment downtown.

“Especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the evenings when you would expect to see a greater heartbeat,” he added.

Many of the building’s original elements will be preserved, Jones said, including a voluminous barreled ceiling, exposed concrete floors and two perimeter walls.

The biggest change passerby will notice is a new storefront with accordion walls, which will fold up vertically to create an indoor-outdoor environment.

But the mural’s not going too far, Jones added. Lacko is going to have it photographed and archived as an interior exhibit.

RSIR arrived on Bainbridge Island in March 2011 with a branch office and art gallery located at 271 Madison Avenue South. Over the past five years, RSIR’s operations have grown to include 18 sales professionals and employees. Despite being boutique, the firm ranks third in total dollar volume, according to Trendgraphix research.

“Our brokers are obviously very excited to have more elbow room and be front and center on Winslow,” Jones said.

“That’s a very popular location, especially during the summer, so we would expect a dramatic increase in our walk-in traffic, which by virtue serves our clients well, since our job is to showcase properties throughout Winslow, Bainbridge and Kitsap County.”