With a look inspired by “classic American seaside retreats and coastal towns,” the new San Juan Passage development at Ship Harbor will start taking shape in the coming months.

The first home is nearing completion and Gilbane Development Co. hosted an opening of the community earlier this month to celebrate. Sales started last week.

When complete, the 100-home development will feature a mix of home designs, including custom lots, and three community-use parks on the 24-acre site. The city of Anacortes’ Guemes Channel Trail will meander along the shoreline on the north edge of the neighborhood.

Gilbane Development Co., a privately owned real estate development firm, bought the Ship Harbor property from the Port of Anacortes for $4.4 million in September 2006.

Bob Gilbane, Gilbane president and CEO, said the company focused on “seacoast architecture,” with sloping roof lines, multiple balconies to take advantage of the views and porches to create a neighborhood feel.

The development’s homes were designed more like a yacht, with efficiency in mind.

“It’s more nautically inspired,” Gilbane said.

Home designs include: Seacoast Classics, 1,153- to 1,907-square-foot homes with prices starting at $500,000; Harborside Series, 2,300- to 2,500-square-foot homes with prices starting at $750,000; and 14 lots along the water for custom-built homes.

Though the outside is reminiscent of old-style homes, the inside is open with rooms flowing together.

“We’re trying to get a traditional exterior but a more open interior,” Gilbane said. “On the inside it’s pretty open and contemporary.”

Designs offer first-floor living as more parents move in with their grown children and more seniors plan for their future. The company also tucked shelves and storage areas throughout the homes.

Homes will also include porches on the non-view sides to encourage a community feel.

“You’ll be able to sit on your porch and interact with your neighbors,” said Russ Lindquist, Gilbane senior development manager.

“The San Juan Passage project is new and very distinctive for Anacortes,” said Mark Bunzel, with Burrows Bay Associates, the firm overseeing the marketing and business development for San Juan Passage.

He said it embodies a trend using traditional neighborhood designs featuring more compact, efficient homes.

The development’s homes will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certified in Anacortes. LEED is a green building system that promotes sustainability.

San Juan Passage’s first home will be complete in the next couple months. The company plans finish three more homes along Oakes Avenue within six months. The interior roads are planned to be finished by the end of the year and the bulk of the homes will follow.

The three community parks will be added as area homes go in.

Despite the housing market slowdown, Gilbane said the company has just finished its best year and he expects more to come.

“We’re very much in growth mode,” he said.

Gilbane Development (http://www.gilbanedevelopment.com) is a fourth-generation private company based in Rhode Island with annual revenues of more than $2 billion. Its portfolio of diverse projects includes a185,000-square-foot headquarters building for the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, an 84,000-square-foot headquarters facility for Human Genome Sciences, a 103-lot community overlooking Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay and Wickford Harbor and redevelopment of 20 acres on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Anacortes was a prime spot to build for the company, which focuses on waterfront communities.

“I don’t see that overbuilding has occurred in Anacortes,” Gilbane said.

If you take out the past couple years of phenomenal sales in the Seattle area, he said sales now are pretty normal.

“We think the market is probably bottoming out right now,” he said.

With many baby boomers looking to downsize and more people looking for cost-efficient, smaller and sustainable homes, Gilbane expects the development will be popular.

He said it also helps that Anacortes is a place where people want to return or retire.

“This is a very attractive community,” Gilbane said. “It’s a good fit.”

Visit http://www.sanjuanpassage.com.

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