Bremerton redevelopment project that houses architectural firm sells for $6 million
The Rice Fergus Miller building in downtown Bremerton, which was transformed from an aging and vacant Sears automotive center to the architecture firm's home in a widely noted renovation in 2011, has sold for $6 million.
According to an announcement from the firm, Rice Fergus Miller will remain at the 275 Fifth Street building through a long-term lease with the new ownership group, which is based in Puget Sound, along with the facility's other two tenants, the Sazan Group and Ad-Vintage, a vintage and collectibles retail store.
The building was built in 1947 as a Sears, when Bremerton's downtown was packed with retail and automotive options, and used by the retailer for nearly 40 years, until the city center's commercial slowdown in the mid-1980s. The site sat vacant for decades, until the architecture firm's principles at the time, Steve Rice, Dave Fergus and Mike Miller, purchased the building in 2009 and launched a $3.6 million renovation that led to a LEED Platinum certification, a rare designation using a rating system for buildings that meet high criteria for sustainability and efficiency.
Described in a Kitsap Sun headline as "decrepit" in a 2010 story, the aging and vacant building was piled with debris, including old signs from Sears, had ceilings in various states of collapse and pigeon poop encrusted across the upper floor. The project wiped the slate clean but incorporated elements of the 1940s design in principals that contribute to lower energy use, like like the use of skylights and opening up tall windows, or simply recycling materials, with 95 percent of the site's structural elements being reused, according to the firm. Conservation techniques like a 6,000-gallon tank for capturing rainwater to be used in toilets and irrigation, or adding solar panels also contributed to the cost-saving and ecologically friendly features.
From the archives: Three decades of building community at Rice Fergus Miller
By 2012 the building was garnering attention in its field, named first-place in the "existing commercial" category of ASHRAE Puget Sound's Technology Award Competition, and as an honoree in the "What Makes It Green?" award from the American Institute of Architects. In 2013 the project won one of six National Technology Awards, including being the only commercial building named, by the American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers.
In addition to housing the firm, now at 60 employees and led by senior principals Greg Belding, Jennifer Fleming, Gunnar Gladics and Dean Kelly, the renovated RFM facility's public meeting space has been home to hundreds of community gatherings and events over the past decade. Rice, Fergus and Miller retired over a span in 2021 and 2022, and retained ownership of the building as a partnership.
“We’ve known that Steve, Dave, and Mike wanted to sell the building to fully enjoy their retirement years," Belding said in a statement from the company. "We’re so pleased that the buyer is local, and recognizes the value of this unique, highly sustainable office building. We look forward to continuing to operate our firm’s headquarters here for many years to come.”
The $6 million selling price reported by the company is the highest for a sale of a commercial office building over at least the past five years in Kitsap County, according to records from the county assessor's office.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Rice Fergus Miller building in downtown Bremerton sold for $6 million
