Since the Kingston Inn burned down Sept. 20, 2005, owner Michael Prestley said he can hardly go out in town anymore without getting stopped repeatedly and asked when or if he’ll rebuild what was an anchor of the downtown core. He’s had to fend off rumors too, that the property had been sold, possibly to Washington State Ferries (not true!).

But the rumor mill can fall silent now, to Prestley’s relief. A plan has finally hatched.

Prestley announced that he and co-owner (and brother-in-law), Steve Dowen, are developing a new Kingston Inn with underground parking that will be topped with six luxury waterview condominiums.

The Kingston Sound View Condominiums and the Kingston Inn Restaurant and Lounge are off the drawing board and ready to become a reality. Prestley’s excited to finally share details of what’s in the works.

“We have had a tremendous amount of support on rebuilding the Kingston Inn and everyone has been asking when this project will be complete,” Prestley said. The owners have been working hard the last six months to see the project through the design phase.

The three-story building will hold a 5,000 square-foot restaurant and lounge, recreating a similar floor plan to the previous Kingston Inn. Like the former building, the restaurant will have a deck overlooking the ferry terminal and Puget Sound that will be “very, very big” with room for 15 to 20 tables.

The Kingston Inn will be topped with six condominiums ranging in size from 1,800 to 2,000 square feet. Two of them will have 515 square-foot decks overlooking the Sound. Each will be unique, Prestley said, and feature room service and generator power.

Both the restaurant and condominiums will have a complete fire-extinguishing system including sprinklers and fire alarms, he emphasized, as required by Kitsap County code.

Prestley and Dowen plan to pre-sell the condominiums to fund the building, designed by Merrick Lentz Architects of Bellevue. Once they are sold, Prestley said, they can move forward with getting it built. There is no estimated completion date yet. They had a pre-application meeting with Kitsap County and will move into permitting.

The pre-sale of the condominiums will get underway soon with prices ranging from $885,000 to $1.2 million. A Web site with detailed renderings of the building and information on the condominiums will be unveiled this month at www.kingstonsoundviewcondos.com.

Prestley said they originally designed and completed surveys for a new Kingston Inn without the condominiums, on the same footprint as the previous restaurant. “After demolition costs, asbestos removal, and on-going residual bills,” Prestley explained, “building replacement costs exceeded our ability to build and operate the Kingston Inn. Menu prices would have been very expensive.”

“I can’t charge $29 for a dinner at the Kingston Inn,” he said, and hopes the menu in the new restaurant will be very similar to what was served previously, with about the same prices.

He noted that it took nearly eight months for the insurance company to reimburse them for the loss. The cause of the Kingston Inn fire was determined to be “caused by an electrical short in a junction box up in the second-level attic area,” according to new Kitsap County Fire Marshal David Lynam. County code, Lynam said, currently requires that restaurants install sprinkler systems if they exceed 5,000 square feet or are in excess of a 100-occupant load.

The Kingston Inn property is zoned as Urban Village Center, which designates a compatible mix of single and multi-family housing that is multi-story and promotes focal points for a neighborhood identity. The preferred development in the UVC, according to the Kingston Sub-Area Plan 2005 Update, is commercial use on the ground floor of a multi-story structure with multi-family residential units above, up to 18 units per acre.

“The process for a structure of this size with engineering, architectural design, Geo studies and the permit process,” Prestley explained, “this all takes a great deal of time. We hope upon the pre-sale of our six condominium units we can start construction and bring back the Kingston Inn.

“I’m working very hard to get the Kingston Inn back up – it will happen.”

For more information on the Kingston Inn and Kingston Sound View Condominiums, go to www.kingstonsoundviewcondos.com. The site should be up and running this month.