D.R. Horton Proposes 238 Homes on Former Harrison Hospital Grounds in Bremerton

D.R. Horton, the nation's largest homebuilder by volume, has submitted preliminary planning and development proposals to the City of Bremerton to transform the vacant 9.48-acre former Harrison Memorial Hospital property into a 238-unit residential neighborhood called Harrison Heights. The conceptual plan, prepared in coordination with Kirkland-based Milbrandt Architects, details 13 residential buildings comprising 28 multi-story townhomes and 210 stacked flat residences along Cherry Avenue in East Bremerton. The filing represents the most substantial private housing redevelopment initiative in East Bremerton since regional healthcare operations permanently relocated to Silverdale in late 2020 and the aging medical campus was demolished in 2024. City planning officials conducted an initial pre-submittal review conference with project representatives on September 9, 2026, setting the regulatory stage for formal environmental, zoning, and site-plan evaluations. Although formal building permit applications remain pending before the city hearing examiner, the preliminary design signals significant private capital investment aimed at converting a long-dormant medical site into dense residential housing positioned directly above the Port Washington Narrows.

Architectural Blueprint and Unit Distribution Across Thirteen Buildings

The conceptual site plan drafted by Milbrandt Architects establishes a dense residential footprint across the 9.48-acre parcel at 2520 Cherry Avenue. The design distributes 238 residences among 13 separate multi-family structures arranged to accommodate the sloping topography of East Bremerton. The plan incorporates 28 attached townhome residences alongside 210 stacked flats, establishing a diverse residential mix suited for both prospective homebuyers and long-term renters. The townhome configurations feature multi-level layouts with dedicated garages, while the stacked flats occupy larger multi-story residential blocks equipped with common entryways and centralized utility corridors.

Community amenities occupy a prominent position within the preliminary architectural layout. The developer has allocated roughly 31,000 square feet of dedicated outdoor community open space across the central and western margins of the property. This open space includes landscaped pocket parks, internal pedestrian walkways, and a dedicated dog park for community residents. Furthermore, the site plan incorporates a pedestrian connector trail that links directly to the neighboring Madrona Trails forest park system. That wooded municipal greenway provides recreational access along the scenic bluff overlooking the Port Washington Narrows.

Surface parking stalls and attached residential garages are integrated into the interior circulation network to minimize visual impact from the Cherry Avenue street frontage. Internal drive aisles connect directly to designated access points along Cherry Avenue, creating structured vehicle circulation designed to accommodate emergency response apparatus from the Bremerton Fire Department. Architectural elevations submitted during pre-application reviews indicate contemporary Northwest exterior materials, including fiber cement siding, composite paneling, and pitched rooflines configured to complement neighboring residential subdivisions.

From Harrison Memorial Hospital to Leveled Ground on Cherry Avenue

The Cherry Avenue property carries deep historical significance for Bremerton and the broader Kitsap Peninsula. For more than five decades, the hillside parcel served as the main inpatient medical facility for Harrison Memorial Hospital. The medical center expanded incrementally across the mid-twentieth century, growing into a sprawling complex of surgical wings, diagnostic pavilions, and clinical offices. Generations of Bremerton residents were born, treated, and cared for within the facility's masonry walls. The complex anchored the neighborhood economy, supporting local pharmacies, medical practices, and retail establishments along the Cherry Avenue and Wheaton Way corridors.

In December 2020, hospital operator Virginia Mason Franciscan Health permanently shuttered inpatient medical operations at the Bremerton campus, transferring emergency, surgical, and acute care services to a newly constructed $500 million medical center in Silverdale. Following that operational migration, the 9.48-acre campus stood vacant for several years, creating economic uncertainty for East Bremerton business owners and adjacent property holders. The sprawling structure suffered from deferred maintenance, deteriorating building systems, and localized vandalism while municipal leaders debated adaptive reuse opportunities.

Private demolition contractors initiated comprehensive abatement and structural teardown operations across the parcel in early 2024. Heavy machinery systematically leveled the multi-story hospital towers, clinical outbuildings, and subterranean basements down to raw graded soil. The removal of the medical complex cleared thousands of tons of concrete, masonry, and structural steel, leaving an expansive hillside canvas primed for redevelopment. The clean parcel removed an aging industrial-scale institutional footprint, opening the door for master-planned residential housing designed under modern energy, seismic, and stormwater management standards.

Bremerton City Council Rebranding and the Harrison Heights Framework

Municipal planning policy for the Cherry Avenue corridor took a decisive turn on August 21, 2024, when the Bremerton City Council officially voted to enact the Harrison Heights Subarea Plan. The legislative action rebranded what had previously been designated as the Eastside Village subarea, establishing an updated planning framework intended to honor local philanthropists Benjamin and Angie Harrison. Benjamin Harrison, a prominent regional attorney, and his wife Angie established substantial charitable trusts that supported community health, youth education, and civic enhancements throughout Kitsap County during the twentieth century.

The subarea designation established special zoning overlays and regulatory guidelines designed to stimulate private investment across approximately 30 acres surrounding Cherry Avenue and the Warren Avenue Bridge approach. The planning guidelines encourage moderate-to-high density residential construction, pedestrian-oriented street frontages, and mixed-income housing alternatives. By establishing flexible building envelope standards and streamlined administrative review processes, the municipal council sought to prevent the former hospital grounds from remaining an unproductive urban void.

The conceptual submission from D.R. Horton represents the first master-planned residential proposal brought forward under the codified Harrison Heights standards. The proposal aligns closely with the city's designated density targets, which encourage between 20 and 40 dwelling units per acre across Eastside redevelopment parcels. While early municipal concept sketches from 2020 envisioned ground-floor commercial storefronts along Cherry Avenue, D.R. Horton's submission focuses entirely on pure residential density. That shift reflects changing economic realities and shifting retail demand across the post-pandemic Kitsap real estate landscape.

East Bremerton Housing Pressures and the Warren Avenue Bridge Corridor

The proposed addition of 238 residential units arrives amid persistent housing shortages and shifting demographic demands throughout Kitsap County. Bremerton's residential market faces sustained upward pressure driven by steady defense sector employment at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Naval Base Kitsap. Thousands of civilian tradespeople, naval engineers, and active-duty military personnel require workforce housing within reasonable commuting distance of local military gates and ferry terminals. Regional home price appreciation and elevated mortgage rates have intensified the demand for attached townhomes and high-density apartments that offer lower price points than traditional single-family dwellings.

Transportation connectivity positions the Harrison Heights parcel as a highly strategic infill location. The site sits less than one mile north of the Warren Avenue Bridge, a critical four-lane arterial carrying State Route 303 across the Port Washington Narrows. The bridge serves as the primary transportation conduit linking East Bremerton with downtown ferry docks and the naval shipyard. Commuters residing along Cherry Avenue enjoy immediate vehicular access to central transit hubs, where Washington State Ferries and Kitsap Transit fast foot ferries connect riders directly to downtown Seattle.

The Cherry Avenue corridor is witnessing complementary private redevelopment efforts. A former medical office building located directly south of the hospital grounds is undergoing conversion into a 52-unit multi-family apartment facility. Additionally, private developers have proposed an $82 million mixed-use apartment project at the former Bay Bowl bowling facility situated along nearby Wheaton Way. Together, these concurrent initiatives signal substantial residential reinvestment across East Bremerton, transforming auto-centric commercial corridors into dense, walkable neighborhood clusters that support local transit ridership.

Environmental Review, Utility Capacity, and Neighborhood Scrutiny

Before earthmoving equipment can break ground on Cherry Avenue, the Harrison Heights project must successfully complete rigorous state and local environmental reviews. The developer must submit a formal State Environmental Policy Act checklist to evaluate potential environmental consequences. Because the 9.48-acre site rests on a westward-sloping bluff draining toward the Port Washington Narrows, municipal engineers will place rigorous scrutiny on stormwater runoff management. D.R. Horton must engineer sophisticated underground retention vaults and bioretention facilities to treat rainwater and prevent sedimentation into delicate Puget Sound marine habitats.

Utility infrastructure represents another critical milestone in the municipal review process. Bremerton Public Works utility engineers must review domestic water supply pressure, fire flow capacity, and sanitary sewer conveyance lines to confirm the surrounding municipal network can absorb 238 new residential households. Upgrades to aging clay or cast-iron sewer mains beneath adjacent rights-of-way may be required as conditions of civil plan approval. Traffic engineers will also analyze vehicular trip generation models to determine whether new turn pockets or pedestrian signal modifications are necessary along Cherry Avenue.

Neighborhood stakeholders and community groups will have opportunities to examine the proposal as formal land-use applications are submitted. Surrounding homeowners residing along Madrona Trails and Cherry Avenue have expressed interest regarding building massing, potential view blockage, and street parking overflow. The developer's preliminary inclusion of dedicated internal garages and 31,000 square feet of public parkland directly addresses common neighborhood concerns regarding open space preservation and parking congestion. The Bremerton Planning Commission will hold public hearings before forwarding land-use recommendations to the city hearing examiner.

Municipal Permitting Milestones and Construction Timeline Projections

The regulatory trajectory for Harrison Heights involves several distinct municipal evaluation stages extending well into 2027. Following the September 9 pre-submittal meeting, D.R. Horton's civil engineering and design team must assemble complete land-use application packages. These submittals must include comprehensive grading drawings, architectural elevations, utility connection designs, and environmental mitigation reports. Once the Bremerton Department of Community Development formally accepts the documentation as technically complete, the city will issue a formal Notice of Application to trigger a mandatory 14-day public comment window.

Independent reporting by Hoodline and local regional coverage in the Kitsap Sun note that the proposal remains in its preliminary administrative infancy. After environmental reviews are finalized, the project will require site development permits, building permits, and public works civil approvals prior to starting foundation work. Given customary municipal processing timelines in Kitsap County, formal permit approvals and environmental determinations are anticipated to conclude during the middle or latter portion of 2027.

If approvals proceed without administrative appeals, vertical construction across the 13 residential buildings would likely occur in phased sequences beginning in late 2027 or early 2028. The initial phase would prioritize grading, site infrastructure, and stormwater detention construction alongside the 28 townhome residences. The subsequent phase would deliver the multi-story stacked flat buildings and community park amenities. Completion of Harrison Heights will advance the City of Bremerton's growth management targets, demonstrating how cooperative municipal planning and targeted urban rezoning can successfully transform shuttered institutional real estate into thriving community neighborhoods.