Lovgreen

HRB’s Ferncliff Village

History and vision

The Bainbridge Island Land Trust (BILT) and HRB have long considered partnering on a project that would combine conservation with affordable housing. There was a time when the two objectives might have appeared antithetical. But today, it is widely understood that prudent land use can advance both these goals and that both are essential to the health of our community.

We are natural partners. As land trusts, HRB and BILT work outside the dominant model of private ownership of land for maximum profit and instead work to place land in the service of community resilience—social, economic, climate, and environmental.

The partnership

BILT is acquiring three 5-acre adjoining parcels along SR 305 and Lovgreen Road at fair market value. The land is noteworthy for its contiguous band of intact forest. The acquisition also includes 9.5 acres of conservation covenants, bringing the total area to 24.5 acres.

A portion of one parcel, fronting Lovgreen Road and with lower ecological value, will be sold to HRB at fair market value for affordable housing development. The forest here is younger, more significantly disturbed by human activities, and less sheltered. This allocation allows BILT to focus its resources on protecting land with the highest conservation values. And it allows HRB to build affordable housing outside the urban core with reduced environmental impact.

Learn more about the purchase and conservation of the Lovgreen property on the BILT website.

HRB envisions a small community of single-family homes for ownership consistent with the city’s existing zoning and affordable housing provisions. Like the HRB-designed homeownership neighborhoods of Ferncliff Village and the future Finch Green, these homes will be sustainably built with great attention paid to integrating them with the landscape and neighborhood context.