The 9.48-acre lot where Harrison Hospital once stood in Bremerton has sat empty since the building came down in 2024, but that could soon change. D.R. Horton has requested a pre-submittal meeting with the city for Harrison Heights, a preliminary concept that could bring 238 new homes to the site along Cherry Avenue.
The proposal, first reported by the Tacoma News Tribune, envisions 13 residential buildings holding a mix of 28 townhomes and 210 stacked flats. The concept also calls for a dog run, 31,000 square feet of open space and a pedestrian connection to nearby Madrona Trails Park, according to the same report. City of Bremerton development staff met with representatives about the project on Sept. 9, but no formal land-use or site-development permits have actually been submitted yet.
Milbrandt Architects, a Kirkland-based firm, crafted the early site plans for Harrison Heights, the News Tribune reports. The surrounding neighborhood spans roughly 30 acres and is bordered by the Warren Avenue Bridge and the Madrona Trails forest preserve.
A Site Shaped by a Renamed Subarea Plan
The Harrison Hospital property has been owned by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, according to county documents cited in the News Tribune's reporting, though the outlet notes that ownership may shift as the project moves through application approval and permitting. The land has sat idle since demolition nearly two years before the report's publication.
The city has had a Harrison Heights subarea plan in place since 2020, intended as a framework for growth and redevelopment in the neighborhood. That subarea itself was renamed Harrison Heights on Aug. 21, 2024, in honor of local philanthropists Angie and Benjamin Harrison, according to the City of Bremerton. The preliminary Harrison Heights development plan differs from that 2020 subarea framework, per the News Tribune's reporting.
Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler has thrown his support behind the proposal, saying it would benefit the city's growing population and promote more neighborhood activity, the News Tribune reports. He added that the goal is simply to make the former hospital site productive again, and said the proposal fits both the city's vision and its zoning requirements, with the current zoning reflecting what officials envision for the area.
D.R. Horton's Local Track Record
D.R. Horton isn't new to the Bremerton market. The homebuilder previously constructed the Kitsap Landing single-family home development near Wheaton Way and Riddell Road, according to the News Tribune's reporting.
The Harrison Hospital site's push toward redevelopment fits a broader pattern in the area. Just blocks away, a separate developer proposed an $82 million, 187-unit, five-story apartment complex on the former Bay Bowl site, a project expected to retain the Bay Bowl name, according to the Kitsap Sun. That outlet reported the city had updated zoning in the area to allow larger building heights and greater density, paving the way for both the Bay Bowl project and the hospital site's residential future.
Other projects in the broader Harrison Heights district point to how much room the current zoning leaves for growth. A separate 4.31-acre redevelopment site in the district is described by MBG Home as featuring 470 residential units and more than 45,000 square feet of new retail, with an 80-foot height limit and no density cap. Elsewhere in Bremerton, the Manette neighborhood's Beacon project is a five-story waterfront building with 186 units and parking for 204 cars, according to MBG Home.
For now, Harrison Heights remains a possible first step toward redeveloping the long-dormant hospital property rather than a done deal. No permits have been filed, and the pre-submittal meeting is an early stage in what is typically a lengthy municipal review process before any shovels hit the dirt on Cherry Avenue.
