Runway show offers a glimpse of new store at Island Gateway - BI Review

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
December 12, 2011 · Updated 3:01 PM 

And now, it can be said, Bainbridge Island has had its own invitation-only fashion show. With more to come.

Willie Wenzlau/For the Review Heather, a model in last Friday’s fashion show at Island Gateway, was one of three women who displayed the collections sold by Aloisa by Kristin Ryann Vogt, a new store that opened last weekend at the new development on Winslow Way.
Willie Wenzlau/For the Review

There was nothing too fancy about last Friday’s Island Gateway event, which served as an entrée to the opening of a new women’s clothing store Saturday in the new development at the intersection of Winslow Way and State Route 305.

The store is named Aloisa by Kristin Ryann Vogt – after the owner and a line of women’s clothing she will be introducing, along with several other collections.

Vogt has owned a women’s clothing store in Poulsbo for four years, but moved to Bainbridge three years ago with the goal of “bringing fashion forward” on the island.

The new 1,000-square-foot store will offer “clothing that’s a little more hip and not everyday wear,” she said. “We will have some clothes for high school girls, but the market is mainly aimed at women 18 to 50.”

Vogt said she enjoyed the Poulsbo store, which is a small boutique that emphasizes casual wear. But she plans to close the Poulsbo store in January in order to focus on her new project.

“This has been my goal for some time,” said Vogt, who has lived in Kitsap for 11 years. “My dad was in textiles and I grew up in the industry.”

She had the opportunity to learn the business first hand and designed her own clothing line as a young woman living in Sarasota, Fla.

She put her passion behind her for many years “and did the family thing, but with the children now old enough, it was time for me to get back into it,” she said.

Her opener drew about 100 people, including existing clientele, community acquaintances and a list of former customers.

Since many of the people knew each other, the ground-floor room of the middle building was loud with laughter and chatter as people moved freely before, during and after the show, which ran for about 20 minutes.

“The intent was to show people where we are going with the new business,” she said. “We want to be inclusive of the community and for people to be excited about what we are doing. We will have another show with a spring collection.”

Vogt said she is well aware of other women clothiers on Bainbridge Island and is determined not be a direct competitor with them.

“We’re going in our own direction just like most people do,” she said. “We are not trying to compete with others on the island. In most instances we won’t be carrying the same lines that others do.”
The store will be open six days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., though Vogt is still undecided on what day the store will be closed.

Contact Bainbridge Island Review Editor Dennis Anstine at editor@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Happy Halloween!

Island Gateway takes the LEED: KiDiMu gets silver - Bainbridge Island Review

By JESSICA HOCH
Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer
Aug 26 2011

The Island Gateway project is raising the bar for green building in Kitsap County.

The Kids Discovery Museum was recently stamped with the green building seal of approval with a LEED (eldership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which serves as the benchmark for eco-friendly building. The museum achieved the silver certification, which makes it one of the first buildings in Kitsap County to receive simultaneous interior and exterior ratings.

Eventually all eight projects in the gateway project will be LEED certified, according to Asani's project manager Craden Henderson, which will make it one of the first complexes in Kitsap County and the state to do so.

"With LEED Silver certification, the building itself becomes a learning opportunity and an example of good stewardship of the environment," said KiDiMu's Board President Diane Crowder.

The certification is a national building design standard created by the nonprofit trade organization the U.S. Green Building Council, and was created for better environmental and health performance standards. It rates design, construction and operation of buildings in a host of categories such as new building, core & shell and several others.

The KiDiMu certification is the first of the Island Gateway project, and the other buildings are expected to follow suit as construction finishes. The tenants inside the complex had the option to pursue LEED certification for their building interiors individually.

LEED is a point-based system where building projects earn points for specific building criteria. The number of points determines the level of certification the project receives. A building that is LEED "certified" is the lowest rank followed by silver, gold and platinum as the most prestigious.

With KiDiMu's silver certification, for both the core and shell and the commercial interior, the museum will add to its curriculum. Krzysztofa McDonough, communications and marketing coordinator. said the museum will add a self-guided "Green LEED Tour" to showcase initiatives such as the building's "living roof" and compost systems.

Last Saturday, KiDiMu celebrated the double certification by offering $1 off admission price for attendees who walked or biked. That day, 72 percent of museum guests walked or traveled by a "parent-operated vehicle" (stroller), according to McDonough.

KiDiMu's walkable location from both the ferry and town center; its water and energy saving design; and use of recycled and non-toxic building materials all played a role in the certification, according to Susan Sivitz, the museum's executive director.

"It is fun for tenants who have an interest in the environment since we've basically created a core building that allows them to have a really sustainable interior if they are interested," said Henderson. "Right now the Bainbridge Art Museum building is slated to receive a gold certification, which speaks to how hard they worked on their sustainability initiatives to use products without harmful chemicals, create efficient lighting, etc."

Henderson said that although LEED is a wonderful standard for buildings, Asani tries to do more than just comply with criteria. He estimated that 98 percent of everything that came off the Island Gateway site, including some 2,000 tires, was recycled to avoid the landfill. With such close proximity to the ravine near State Route 305, Henderson said it represented a unique challenge.

"We put in some pretty extensive measures to ensure that the water quality entering the ravine is significantly better when it enters the sound," said Henderson. "Most developers can tell you, they haven't been able to figure that one out," said Henderson.

According to the Green Building Council the cost per square foot for buildings seeking LEED certification falls into the existing range of building costs, and that building sale prices for energy efficient buildings are as much as 10 percent higher, per square foot, than conventional buildings. One 2008 study said LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.33 per square foot over their non-LEED peers and have a 4.1 percent higher occupancy rate.

Many cities across the country encourage green building through their building permit process. Though Bainbridge has an incentive program for residential green building with the Housing Design Development Program (HDDP), it does not yet offer any for commercial development. Chris Wierzbicki said the city doesn't yet have any plans to develop a green commercial program.

Henderson said the team is energized to see the environmental planning payoff, and is confident that the remaining buildings will see either a gold or silver award.

"We are really proud of the group as a whole for the work that's been done," said Henderson.

Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer Jessica Hoch can be reached at jhoch@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Avalara Earns an “A” for Its Career Open House | Inside Bainbridge

Inside Bainbridge
by Kevin Hawkins on August 26, 2011.

Dozens of job seekers swarmed the new offices of high-tech firm Avalara as the company opened its doors on Wednesday, August 24, for a job fair. Avalara, which is located in the new Island Gateway complex across from the entrance to the Ferry, is the leader in providing sales tax automation for small- and medium-sized businesses. It is one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States and a top employer on the Kitsap Peninsula...

Click here to read article

KiDiMu in the Daily Journal of Commerce!

KiDiMu LEEDs THE WAY

Bainbridge Island’s Kids Discovery Museum Receives LEED® Silver Certification Award from the U.S. Green Building Council, Placing it Amongst the Nation’s Leading Buildings in Sustainable Design

Bainbridge Island, Washington - August 15, 2011  - The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized the Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu) with a Silver certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The Museum now meets LEED Silver standards for both - Commercial Interiors, and Core and Shell. As part of the new Island Gateway cultural center, KiDiMu provides an outstanding play and learning environment for children in a facility that demonstrates smart and sustainable design and construction.

Designed, developed and built by Coates Design, Asani, and PHC Construction, the KiDiMu building provides an environmentally-healthy and ecologically-friendly public space for Bainbridge Island and visiting families alike.

The new facility not only enables the nonprofit children’s museum to be a sustainability leader and save money, but it also aligns with its mission to educate. “This is such an exciting time for the Museum and our community. With LEED silver certification, the building itself becomes a learning opportunity and an example of good stewardship of the environment.” said KiDiMu’s board president Diane Crowder.

While discovering KiDiMu, families can explore various aspects of the building that make it earth-friendly. They can even take a self-guided “Green LEED Tour” of KiDiMu. In addition, many of the museum programs and camps feature the subject of environmental education. “It is a delight to see families climb up the pathways to check how the rooftop garden is doing, or get visiting children excited about planting seeds or composting. In our new home, the lessons learned have a better chance to sink in,” Crowder added.

By using less energy and water, LEED-certified buildings save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

“The new building is a “smart” solution for KiDiMu, Bainbridge Island and the planet,” said Crowder. “The certification is a great honor and a “seal of approval” for a job well done. We feel fortunate to have had the community support and expertise of the Island Gateway team to help us succeed.” 

The KiDiMu building’s location, within a walking distance from the ferry and the center of town, its water and energy saving design, and recycled and non-toxic building materials all play a role in reaching LEED certification, which holds the highest national standard for building design that implements strategies for better environmental and health performance.

“We’re very excited about the LEED Silver rating for the KiDiMu.  This will make it one of the first buildings in Kitsap county to receive both the interior and exterior LEED rating.  There couldn’t be a better space for a kids museum!” said Asani project manager Craden Henderson.

As the Island Gateway moves forward in gaining LEED certification for all its buildings, including the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, KiDiMu’s LEED Silver award provides real satisfaction and encouragement for the Island Gateway team, and sets a standard for sustainable building design and development throughout the Bainbridge Island community.

New art museum changes its name

Bainbridge Island Review 

By CONNIE MEARS
Bainbridge Island Review Staff writer
Jul 22 2011, 11:10 AM · UPDATED

The board of directors for the new art museum, scheduled to open in 2012 at Island Gateway, voted to adopt a new name: Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, said Executive Director Greg Robinson.
The name change from Bainbridge Art Museum was prompted by a couple of reasons. Foremost was to avoid confusion with Bellevue Art Museum, which shared the BAM acronym. Secondly, board members felt that adding the word Island was a more specific identifier for the community.

The museum's focus will be on showcasing art from Kitsap, Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound areas,
"We're right in the heart of that," Robinson said.

The change will take some time to execute, but it is in the process of filing the paperwork with the Secretary of State to formally change the nonprofit's name.

He said the museum never promoted the use of the term BAM, but the art world tends to be acronym-heavy. The museum may or may not end up using the new BIMA acronym.

The museum has held a number of focus groups seeking input from the community. When looking for an alternative name, the board revisited the focus group comments and found that the name Bainbridge Island Museum of Art was a popular choice.

Buildings CF are Complete!

Photo by David Cohen

Island Gateway is helping to make busy intersection more foot friendly

Bainbridge plans to make busy intersection near ferries more foot friendly

KITSAP SUN
By Tristan Baurick
Posted July 18, 2011 at 5:13 p.m.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — The state is footing most of the bill to make the island's busiest intersection safer for pedestrians.

The Winslow Way-Highway 305 intersection will soon get new sidewalks, pedestrian crossing signal lights and timers, and a long-awaited crosswalk along the intersection's north side.

"It's a great improvement for pedestrians, not to mention it's the first intersection people encounter when coming to downtown," Councilman Barry Peters said.

The city will pay for the $120,000 project with a $50,000 contribution from the state Department of Transportation, $30,000 from a state grant awarded for the Winslow Way reconstruction project and $40,000 from a fee paid by the Island Gateway commercial development taking shape on the intersection's northwest corner...

Click here to read the rest of this article: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/jul/18/bainbridge-plans-to-make-busy-intersection-more/#ixzz1Sb7amaLk

CHICKEN CRAZY? 3rd Annual Bainbridge Island Tour de Coop TOMORROW

Some are saying that chickens are the new golden retriever and its certainly true here on Bainbridge Islander. Every spring the local Island feed store, 'Bay Hay and Feed' sell 1550 to 1800 baby chicks and at least 5000 50lb bags of chicken  food. They estimate 1/3 of Island households keep chickens. WOW! 

Don't miss the  Third Annual Bainbridge Island Tour de Coop 2011 Tomorrow: A Self-Guided Tour of  Chicken Coops, Saturday, July 16 from 11-4.  This year there will  be 9 chicken coops on the tour. Tickets are available at Bay Hay and Feed, and Classic Cycle on Bainbridge Island. Check out this great article in the local newspaper to learn more: 

 

Tour de Coop this weekend

By ERIN JENNINGS
North Kitsap Herald Kitsap Week

Chicken coops are hatching all over Bainbridge Island.

Some are lavish and include artwork and electricity.

Others are quaint and provide comfortable living quarters.

At this weekend’s third annual Tour de Coop,  visitors will get the chance to check out nine coops on a self-guided tour around the island.

It’s the chicken version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” minus the gilded furniture and luxurious yachts. Instead, you’ll see ventilated egg boxes and high perches for sleeping. Eating quarters consist of water troughs and food dispensers. Chicken bathtubs are made up of a mixture of dirt and sand — perfect for dust bathing.  And one coop even has classical music piped in — the owners read that classical music helps keep the chickens calm... 

click here to read the rest of the article

 

Avalara Moves In! Welcome!

Wham BAM! The Bainbridge Art Museum Takes Shape

Inside Bainbridge
by Sarah Lane on June 5, 2011.
http://www.insidebainbridge.com/2011/06/05/wham-bam-the-bainbridge-art-museum-takes-shape

At the corner of 305 and Winslow Way, right next to KiDiMu, there is a large, brand new building and a large recently flattened area of dirt, subject of much Island speculation. Part of the building now houses Pretty Stick, the flagship store of a new nontoxic makeup company, and Avalara, a provider of web-hosted sales tax and use tax management services. Violet Restaurant (formerly Real Foods) will be opening in the facility soon. Another part of the building houses the start of the Bainbridge Art Museum, or BAM (as I have decided to call it). In the area of flattened dirt in front of it will soon rise the rest of the 20,000-square-foot museum.

Completed portion of the BAM facility

Although BAM is quite a ways from being completed–the earliest anticipated opening is late 2012–it already paints an impressive picture, and the description of what it is to become is quite ambitious. The brainchild of Cynthia Sears, who has been contemplating such a creation for a decade or more, BAM aims to house a permanent collection of works by contemporary regional artists, feature a gallery for changing exhibits (up to 16 per year), work with local schools and the Bainbridge Island Park District to display art by young people, and partner with local organizations, including KiDiMu, to support their efforts by offering space resources such as classrooms and an auditorium.

Greg Robinson, the museum’s Executive Director, says that since achieving nonprofit status for BAM in 2009, the founders have been asking themselves, “What does it mean to be right here, on Bainbridge Island, where the environment is so important?” Members of the board hope to reflect that reality through many of the exhibits they offer. And they intend for the museum’s physical incarnation to reflect the Northwest environmental sensibility as well. To that end the building has been designed to meet the standards of LEED Silver, the U.S. Green Building Council’s third-highest level of recognition, which Robinson says is always an accomplishment for a museum. Museums have particular lighting needs and temperature and humidity concerns that make it particularly challenging to attain LEED energy-use standards.

Solar panels on the roof, a mechanized louver system to maintain a constant temperature inside, the use of sustainable building materials including denim insulation (provided through a grant from Levi Strauss) and FSC-certified woods, recycled-fiber carpeting, a bamboo ceiling, waterless urinals, a green roof, living walls, a permeable surface surrounding the building, and, most impressively, the incorporation of geothermal energy tapped via pipes embedded on site are all part of the building’s innovative design.

Bainbridge Art Museum Classroom

The finished facility will include a reception area and main lobby space; four galleries; a special collections display; glass display cases for smaller, more delicate items such as books and jewelry; a café; a museum store; art archives; and a rooftop garden named in honor of Island garden artists George Little and David Lewis. For now at this early stage, BAM consists of offices, classrooms, and a 95-seat auditorium. As part of its education-focused mission, BAM is inviting groups to use its existing spaces for lectures, classes, small concerts, and video screenings. Bill Baran-Mickle, one of BAM’s board members, is especially excited about the auditorium, as it will enable the museum to digitally document and present artists’ processes.

The Island Gateway campus

The Island Gateway campus is set up as a condo association, with residents sharing responsibility for common areas. The BAM project’s architectural firm is Coates Design, project management is being handled by Asani, and the construction company is PHC. BAM will own the finished building. An additional retail/commercial building will be constructed in the southwest corner of the campus.

Architectural renderings courtesy of Island Gateway. Photos by Sarah Lane, 2011.

KiDiMu's Birthday Bash and Pretty Sitck - Now Open

It was a sunny and lively day at Island Gateway today.  The Kids Discovery Museum celebrated their first birthday with games, face painting, music, Mora ice cream, a bouncy house and much more.  Our first retail tenant, Pretty Stick also opened their doors today!

Welcome Pretty Stick

Island Gateway would like to welcome Pretty Stick to our community.

check out their website at:  www.prettystickbeauty.com

Don't miss KiDiMu’s First Annual BIRTHDAY BASH

KiDiMu’s First Annual BIRTHDAY BASH

 Start: June 4, 2011 10am-4pm

Venue: Kids Discovery Museum at Island Gateway

Phone: 206-855-4650

Address: 

301 Ravine Lane N.E., Bainbridge Island, WA, United States, 98110 

 

click here for more details 

 

 

 

BigBelly Solar compactor trash cans at Island Gateway

 More BigBelly Solar compactors bound for Bainbridge Island

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
May 06 2011, 4:50 PM

Sustainable Bainbridge has finally found a way to rid Winslow Way of its overflowing garbage cans, at least it will once the reconstruction project on the street is finished.

A BigBelly Solar unit is a regular in the Kitsap Transit parking area at the Bainbridge ferry terminal

Dennis Anstine/Staff Photo

The eventual purchase of seven BigBelly Solar waste compactors/recyling bins will also help reduce the amount of fossil fuel used on the island’s main street by cutting down on the trip frequency of one of the biggest diesel gas hogs on the road – disposal trucks.

Els Heyne, a Sustainable Bainbridge board member, has been the lead person for WOW (Wiping Out Waste) Bainbridge in rallying the community to buy seven of the solar compactors from a company located in Newton, Mass.

Heyne believes the units have a bright future because the recycling and compacting units sit side by side and makes it easy for pick up.

The contraptions have two compartments: one collects glass, plastic and paper recycling; the other is a solar-powered unit that is highly energy efficient through a series of patent-protected processes that allow the waste compactor to operate 365 days a year.

The machines are a natural for Bainbridge Island, said Jim Poss, BigBelly Solar's founder and current CPO who is an island resident. Poss and his family moved here from the Boston area four years ago, but he is still involved with BigBelly.

"These days because of the economy, community activists rather than governments are often the people who initiate the purchase of our product," Poss said. "It's a natural for Bainbridge since communities that are environmentally advanced have embraced the product. We've had machines at the ferry terminal and behind City Hall at the Farmers' Market for a while, so Sustainable Bainbridge has known about them and came to us."

While each machine costs more than $6,000, they are cost-effective in the long run because they rarely break down and don't require daily pick up by disposal companies, Heyne said.

“What’s great about them is that they will cut down on Bainbridge Disposal’s daily trips for picking up the garbage, which is really bad during the summer with all the tourists,” said Heyne. “With the compactor, they’ll come down for pick up only about once a week.”

Heyne said Bainbridge Disposal is enthusiastic about the new devices because it will cut its trip costs, though it hasn't been charging for downtown garbage pickup since it has an exclusive commercial and residential contract with the city.

“We service the cans with concrete bases downtown every day,” said Dave Stanley, Bainbridge Disposal’s general manager. The business bought the cans years ago and then donated them to the city.
“There will be some savings,” he said, “because we won’t have to go there more than a once or twice a week. From what I understand, they have an electronic way of letting us know when they are full.”
Now, beginning at 6 a.m. daily, disposal trucks pick up trash on Winslow Way, the library and high school.

“But in the summer when the tourists are in town the cans can be overflowing by 10 in the morning,” he said. “It looks bad down there when the cans get full and spill out. We like to leave the street better than we found it.”

Heyne said WOW Bainbridge has received pledges for $30,000 of the $44,000 needed to buy seven of the solar contraptions. She said $6,000 each has come from a Rotary Club grant, a city grant, Island Gateway, Town & Country and Sustainable Bainbridge. Island Gateway will get one unit, and three will be placed on each side of Winslow way between Ericksen and North Madison avenues.
Poss said the use of a BigBelly unit will eliminate about $1,500 to $2,000 in collection costs annually.
"Our system is vastly cheaper and a better way to go environmentally than the old trash can," said Poss. "It decreases the amount of fossil fuel used in collection and amount of garbage disposed of. And our maintenance, when compared to the cost of maintaining a truck, is way ahead."

He said the machines have a long life cycle and are easy to maintain. The only moving parts are an electric motor and two motorcycle drive chains, all of which rarely need to be replaced and are under warranty when they do. They also have a small battery, which needs to be charged every five years or so."

"There's not much to go wrong," Poss said. "other than vandalism, a broken door lock or one of them getting run over by bus."

He said environmental activists in Portland, Ore., have launched a successful "Adopt A Belly" program with about 50 of them now on the ground, though the city itself has not been involved directly.
Poss said the units, 10,000 of which have been sold worldwide in less than a decade, can be purchased through a distributor and usually delivered in a couple of days.



For more information or to contribute, call 842-4439 or email: info@sustainablebainbridge.org.

Bainbridge Island Review Editor Dennis Anstine can be reached at editor@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Buildings CF are Almost Complete!

Please contact our Leasing team TODAY if you are interested in office or retail space here. There are still some spaces available and we look forward to having you as part of this unique community.

please call
206.780.7450 or email
kelly@theislandgateway.com

Happy Earth Day!

Island Gateway will give booming Bainbridge tech company room to grow - KITSAP SUN

By Tristan Baurick - KITSAP SUN
Posted April 1, 2011 at 5:53 p.m.

Read it here: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/apr/01/island-gateway-will-give-booming-bainbridge-tech/#ixzz1IKZbcSqC

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — The Island Gateway development has snagged a fast-growing software company as its main commercial tenant.

Avalara, a Bainbridge-based tax-management software company, will take over 17,000 square feet of Island Gateway's recently-completed 30,000-square-foot commercial building, which sits between the Kids Discovery Museum and the planned Bainbridge Art Museum on Winslow Way.

"This space will allow us to stay on the island," Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane said.

He plans to hire 15 to 20 more people once Avalara moves in by the end of May.

The seven-year-old company has already outgrown two office spaces on Bainbridge while opening satellite offices in Seattle, California, Virginia and India. It employs 85 people at its Bainbridge headquarters, 12 people in Seattle and about 150 in its other locations.

Avalara spent the better part of a year looking for a Winslow building substantially larger than its current 8,000-square-foot Ericksen Avenue headquarters.

"We would have had to build a new space, so we started looking at moving to downtown Seattle," McFarlane said.

Island Gateway managing partner Andrew Lonseth has worked with Avalara on a lease agreement for about seven months.

"We're delighted to have these high-powered jobs staying on Bainbridge," he said.
Island Gateway, which occupies six acres of prime Winslow real estate, also recently signed leases for a restaurant and a natural cosmetics store. A women's clothing store is in the works for one of the last two remaining retail spaces on the ground floor of the three story building.

The restaurant, tentatively called "Radish," will be run by the former owners of Real Foods, a natural foods market and cafe that occupied a space about a block away. It will focus on natural, locally-grown cuisine and will have a full-service breakfast, lunch and dinner seating area, as well as a walk-up espresso counter.

Other amenities include a canopy-covered outdoor seating and a wood-fired oven for pizzas. The menu will have kid-friendly lunches for the KiDiMu crowd, and more high-end options for the art museum's evening patrons. Radish is expected to open during the summer.

The building also boasts a 100 seat auditorium for the art museum's use. The museum has claimed space for two classrooms and offices in the new building. Its board will move in soon as it ratchets up work on building the museum, which will take the place of an existing building at the northwest corner of the Winslow Way-Highway 305 intersection.

Lonseth said a second commercial building fronting Winslow Way should break ground this spring. The two-story, 10,000-square-foot building will take over the area formerly occupied by the Eagle Harbor Market building, which was torn down in November.

Avalara, Island Gateway make a perfect match - Bainbridge Island Review

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
Today, 4:39 PM

It has taken a considerable amount of time and dialogue, but the Island Gateway development finally has its ideal anchor tenant under contract.

Nearly all of the commercial space available in the large building sandwiched between the existing Kids Discovery Museum and the anticipated Bainbridge Art Museum has been leased to Avalara.
The dynamic, island-based company has grown rapidly to become an industry leader in providing web-based sales/use tax compliance solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.

Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane (left) and founder Rory Rawlings hope that their third move during the last six years to accommodate their burgeoning firm will be a charm.

Dennis Anstine/Staff Photo

The 17,500-square-foot office space will soon be home to 85 employees who work in the tech firm’s Bainbridge headquarter. An additional 17 are expected to be hired by the time Avalara moves from its current two-buildings home on Ericksen Avenue to Gateway in late May or early June.

The new digs will be quite a step up from the company’s humble beginnings, which began when island resident and founder Rory Rawlings created the software on a computer in his daughter’s bedroom six years ago.

From there, the company, which now has 200 employees working in offices located in several states and India, moved its headquarters to the San Juan Building on Ferncliff Avenue and then to Ericksen Avenue.

Founder/CEO Scott McFarlane said the company has needed to move for more than year and has been looking on the island without success. The space has become so cramped that employees have been sharing desks and sitting on countertops.

“We have 80 percent of our Bainbridge workforce living either on the island or elsewhere in the county,” he said, “so we’ve wanted to find something here – preferably close to the ferry because we also have employees living in Seattle. But nothing fit until this came up.”

McFarlane said the new building is large enough for “our creative, hard-working employees to have a little fun and be able to relax at work. We basically try to keep a family atmosphere at work, and this will help us retain that goal.”

Avalara’s employees will even have access to their own exercise room in the building.
“It’s just a dynamic event for us... moving to a great work space and still being able to work close to home,” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds for us.”

It’s also a good deal for Bill Carruthers and the other principles of the project’s developer, Asani LLC.
“Scott always wanted to have Avalara on Bainbridge so we looked at designing a special space for them,” Carruthers said. “It took some time for us to make the adjustments and to negotiate concessions on both sides. But I can’t tell you how pleased we are having them on the island in the first place, and now in our building.”

McFarlane said having a secure lease was important for both parties.

“We know now that we can stay here as long as we want to, which is a good thing for us and the island,” he said. “Besides us continuing to work downtown, we also bring hundreds of people to the island each year for training. So it’s great for the island’s economy, too.”

Carruthers said the building’s retail space has all been claimed, too. The restaurant “Radish” and a natural cosmetics store called “Pretty Stick” have signed leases. He said a women’s clothing store has signed on but has asked to remain anonymous for now.

“We’ve had to work at it,” Carruthers said, “but we’ve been surprised at the level of interest we’ve had during such tough economic times.”

The next building project for Asani, Carruthers said, is the two-story building that will front Winslow Way just west of the art museum, which is on its own time-frame.

There was very little interest in the building at first, he said, but it has picked up since the beginning of this year. Construction will begin next month.

“We have people interested in the building on Winslow Way, but they want to see the space before starting to negotiate seriously for an agreement,” he said.

He said the plan is to have a restaurant on the second floor overlooking Winslow Way and retail at street level. He said there have been conversations with owners of three potential shops.

Bainbridge Island Review Editor Dennis Anstine can be reached at editor@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Radish - Coming Soon to Island Gateway

Island Gateway welcomes Radish, a high-end restaurant run by the former owners of Real Foods Store and Cafe.

Read more: http://pugetsoundblogs.com/bainbridge-conversation/2011/03/24/a-new-blackbird-and-other-restaurants-opening-in-winslow/#ixzz1HchsmMGf

Bainbridge Island Review: Island Gateway set to sign up anchor tenant

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
Mar 10 2011, 4:35 PM

The Island Gateway development expects to solidify its future this week or next by signing a lease contract with an all-important anchor tenant.

Contract issues were still  being vetted by the principals, delaying an official announcement by the large Bainbridge firm that plans to move to the development.

“It’s going to happen, but they wanted to make the announcement when everything is taken care of legally,” said Andrew Lonseth of Asani LLC, the island firm developing Island Gateway.

After spending some time at KiDiMu, a mother and her children stop to watch Josh Pippinger of JP Landworks move some rocks around for a courtyard wall being built at the Island Gateway project.
Dennis Anstine/Staff Photo

Two other businesses and several retail stores are also in negotiations with Asani, which hopes to have tenants signed up soon for its four commercial buildings.

“We are in good shape now,” he said. “We have a strong combination of almost signed leases and strong interest. We should be fully booked on opening day or shortly thereafter. That will be late May or, it’s safe to say, early June.

The tentative opening of the four retail/office buildings is scheduled in conjunction with the Kids Discovery Museum’s first-anniversary celebration of moving into its new building in the north part of the development June 4.

The exact configuration of the four buildings, which is actually one building broken up into four separate, three-story spaces, depends somewhat on the tenants.

The first two floors of the “building” adjacent to the future Bainbridge Island Art Museum are owned by the museum, which will have a 95-seat auditorium on the first floor and offices and classrooms on the second floor.

Lonseth expects five retail businesses on the first floor of the other three “buildings,” including a restaurant operated by the owners of the former Real Foods grocery store. The top two floors will have six office units, Lonseth said, with the possibility of two of the six being subdivided.

The museum offices, which currently are in the space where the old Chamber of Commerce was, will move into the second-floor offices above the auditorium when it is finished – likely in late May or early June.

The remaining building on the site where the museum will be built is expected to be razed sometime this summer – though it’s possible that one part of it will be saved.

Lonseth said the second floor of the front part of the structure, which contains two apartments, is salvageable for the price of moving it.

“We’ve been trying to find someone to move it and haven’t been successful,” he said.
If it isn’t moved, the entire structure will be torn down, with some of the reusable parts put to use elsewhere or recycled.

Craig Robinson, executive director of the Art Museum, said that other than moving out of the current building in May or June a timeline hasn’t been established for the new museum’s groundbreaking or completion.

Lonseth said it will probably take between 12 to 14 months to complete construction of the museum.
Robinson said he and the museum board “are in the quiet phase of our capital campaign and in an organizational readiness stage. We are also making plans about how our involvement with the community and how the community can use our space. We’re not just going to be about art. It’s also about education and partnering with the community.”

Robinson said the designs of the museum’s exterior and interior components are now completed.

Bainbridge Island Review Editor Dennis Anstine can be reached at editor@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Students Tour Gateway

Local Bainbridge Island high school architectural students toured the Island Gateway job site today.

Anticipated Opening - Late March!

Well, it won't be long now until the Gateway's first tenants are moving in.  We anticipate a soft opening in late March.  Stay tuned for details on our Grand Opening Event in June.

There is still some retail space available so please contact our Leasing team TODAY if you are interested.

please call 
206.780.7450 or email  
kelly@theislandgateway.com

Status on the Site - not long now!

Contact our Leasing team TODAY if you are interested in office or retail space here.  There are still some spaces available.  

please call 
206.780.7450 or email  
kelly@theislandgateway.com