Port Orchard staff report shows continued McCormick buildout, slowing multifamily pipeline and rising vacancy; schools flagged as capacity concern

City community development staff updated the Economic Development and Tourism Committee on ongoing and proposed development projects across Port Orchard and the near‑term implications for housing supply, traffic and school capacity.

Nick Bond, the city’s community development director, presented a series of project updates and maps and said much of the remaining work in Port Orchard will be a long‑term buildout of McCormick Woods. “We have 597 lots among all phases remaining,” Bond said when describing the McCormick area, and he noted McCormick construction will continue for years. Bond listed major projects moving through permitting or construction including: 429 Bay Street (39 units, three over one framing in place), Forest Song on Melcher (192 apartments on a site rezoned in 2010), McCormick Village (400 middle‑housing units plus 20,000 square feet of commercial), Bridgeview (136 units under a new owner pulling permits), Salmonberry Apartments (28 units, clearing begun) and several smaller multifamily and mixed‑use projects around Sedgwick and Bethel.

Bond said the overall multifamily pipeline is “waning” compared with previous years: several projects are completing construction and fewer new multifamily proposals are entering the permit pipeline. He cited Office of Financial Management population updates and local vacancy data and said vacancy rates are now “up above 10” percent. “We are building houses faster than they are being absorbed into the market,” Bond said, adding he expects McCormick will continue but at a somewhat lower annual pace.

Infrastructure and traffic mitigation were recurring themes. Staff briefed the committee on planned frontage improvements for Melcher (sidewalks and frontage work as part of large developments), a sewer lift station design near Sydney Road Southwest, and a Kitsap Transit Park & Ride project expected to seek construction in 2026. Staff also described planned access extensions associated with the Home Depot site and the Salmonberry Apartments that are intended to reduce pressure on the congested Bethel‑Lund intersection.

Home Depot’s proposal remains under review after Ecology’s site visit identified additional wetlands; Bond said the applicant is revising critical‑areas mapping and that the developer has applied for permits under the existing regulations. “They can still get their permit issued this year,” Bond said, noting the company does not necessarily need to start clearing immediately after permit issuance.

Committee members raised public‑service and school capacity concerns. Monica Adams, representing the Port Orchard Waterfront Alliance, asked directly: “Who plans for schools? Because we’re gonna need them with that kind of growth,” and said local schools are already overcrowded. Bond responded that school districts are responsible for building and siting schools and that state statutes authorize school impact fees that can be collected from new development; he noted, however, that bonds and levies remain the districts’ primary tools for paying for new school construction.

Bond closed by saying he will bring the material to the full city council and land‑use committee for further review. No regulatory approvals or council votes occurred at the committee meeting; projects described are at various stages (recorded plats, pending permits, clearing and construction).

What this means: Port Orchard’s pipeline will continue to supply housing units through single‑family lots in McCormick for many years while the recent flux of multifamily building slows. That shift has implications for local infrastructure, traffic planning and school capacity funding; council members and community representatives asked staff to keep coordinated planning with the school district, Kitsap Transit and other partners on their agenda.