Inn, apartments planned near Bainbridge city hall

The owner of three properties just north of Bainbridge Island City Hall hopes to redevelop the land by building three four-story buildings that would include a 14-unit inn, affordable and market-rate rental units, commercial office space and an underground parking garage.

Part of the property was once eyed as the preferred location for the new Bainbridge police department/public safety building, but plans to buy the property through a $15 million bond measure was rejected by voters in 2015.

The properties — at 290 Madison Ave. North and 328 Madison Avenue North — currently are home to the Madison Avenue Laundry, Lily’s Pad Massage, Natural Image Nails and Exotic Aquatics Scuba and Kayaking.

Proponents of the project note that the redevelopment proposal will lead to the cleanup of contaminated soil on the site.

Pollution on the site, believed to stem from the laundromat on the property, was a major factor in the public’s rejection of the proposal for a new public safety building planned for the acreage.

The property is owned by Madison Holdings, and proponents of the development proposal are planning to meet with the city’s Design Review Board next week to talk about the conceptual design of the project.

The development is called Madison Lofts, and according to preliminary plans submitted to the city, the development would consist of three separate buildings.

The property has Mixed-Use Town Center zoning. “The project is designed as a small‐scale ‘urban infill’ project,” project proponents noted in their application materials. “The buildings provide enough separation to provide light and view to the units, but maintain the density needed for good street frontage and a walkable community.”

Proponents also note the project could help provide affordable housing for Bainbridge residents.

“This project is providing benefit to the community by cleaning-up the existing dry-cleaner’s contamination, by integrating affordable housing into the development, and by providing site design amenities that will benefit the neighborhood,” Dana Webber, the architect for the project, said in a description of the redevelopment filed with the city’s planning department Oct. 24.

Commercial office space for Madison Lofts would be located on the lower levels of the development, while the inn would be built on the upper two levels.

Webber said apartments would also be built on two lower levels, while townhouses would be put in on the upper two levels.

“The residential buildings are designed to provide well-arranged units with good unit layouts and access to windows,” Webber noted. “The two residential buildings are linked by a skybridge, with a shared elevator. The central space between the two buildings is designed as a common area that can be used by the residents and accessed by the public.”

On the polluted property, the parcel with the laundry, the developer is proposing to remove large quantities of contaminated soil.

“The deep excavation that is required for clean-up sets the project up for underground parking,” Webber said in the project description.

“For most projects of this scope, underground parking — to this extent — is not economically feasible. Underground parking enables the project to be developed to its complete density. It is the density of the development that makes it economically feasible to ‘carry’ the affordable housing,” Webber explained. “Without the density, the affordable housing is not economically feasible.”

According to a site assessment review on file with the city, the proposal calls for development of 97 percent of the site.

Information supplied to the city for the project indicates the maximum height of the structures will be 40 feet. Parking will total 79 stalls, with 34 stalls for the residential properties and another 17 for guest parking. A total of 12 stalls would be set aside for the inn, and another 16 for commercial uses in the development, which the developers describe as “small‐scale and diminutive.”

The development totals 47,812 square feet: Building A is 17,504 square feet in size; and both Building B and Building C are 15,154 square feet in size. The sky bridge is 300 square feet.

Most of the residential space is devoted to affordable units; a total of 18,185 square feet is set out for affordable residential uses in the preliminary plan, with 12,123 square feet earmarked for market-rate residential. The inn is 9,144 square feet in size (when planned for 12 units), and a total of 8,360 has been set aside for commercial office space.