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Work has officially begun on the Timberwalk Apartments, a future complex near the intersection of Canterwood Boulevard and Baker Way Northwest.
The Rush Companies announced the start of construction in a Facebook post June 29. Clouds of dust rose over the lot Monday afternoon as excavators pushed dirt and trucks drove in and out of the fenced worksite.
“We look forward to sharing updates as this new community takes shape,” the company’s post said.
Eventually, the complex will feature “120 wood-framed apartment homes across six three-story stacked-flat buildings, including one mixed-use building featuring ground-floor leasing and resident amenity spaces,” according to the company website. It will be 102,750 square feet.
A Pierce County staff report included in permit records adds that the project will include a mixture of studio and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments.
The News Tribune reached out to Rush Monday morning to ask for updates on the project. Rush Vice President Danny Kruse wrote in an email that the company doesn’t have any comments at this time.
Located at 5726 and 5730 Baker Way NW, the 5.85-acre site is located just outside Gig Harbor city limits, in unincorporated Pierce County. The Pierce County permit portal indicates the county issued commercial construction permits to Rush in June.
A limited liability company governed by Rush representatives, CW Baker Way LLC, is the listed property owner. The parcels were undeveloped when CW Baker Way purchased the two parcels for $2.61 million in June 2024, according to Washington State Department of Revenue records of the sale.
The city of Gig Harbor will provide sewer service to the site, approving requests from Rush, The News Tribune reported. Per the Gig Harbor Municipal Code, the city can provide sewer service to applicants who are located outside city limits, provided they meet certain requirements such as agreeing to pay for the design, engineering and construction of the sewer service extension and to obtain all necessary permits at their own expense. The city charges customers outside city limits at 1.5 times the rate that customers pay for sewer inside the city boundaries.
A dispute over what the developer needs to do to reduce the environmental impacts of the project is ongoing. In February, William Lynn, an attorney representing CW Baker Way LLC filed an appeal of the county’s Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS), which is a decision issued as part of the county’s normal process of reviewing new development. Lynn filed another appeal on the LLC’s behalf in March of the site development permit related to the conditions in dispute.
“The developers, CW Baker Way, LLC, have filed an appeal challenging MDNS conditions 1 and 2 which require certain street frontage improvements along Canterwood Blvd adjacent to the project site,” a Pierce County staff report reads.
In an April 15 hearing, the developer presented a proposed settlement agreement with Pierce County and the city of Gig Harbor, and requested time to finalize the settlement, which the Pierce County Hearing Examiner granted until June 15, then to July 15.
The Hearing Examiner’s office wrote in an email exchange with Lynn that it will issue another 45-day extension this week. Pierce County spokesperson Christina Rohila wrote that the extension hasn’t posted yet, but will be available on the permit portal when it’s official. Lynn wrote in an email Monday afternoon that he doesn’t have a firm date for the Hearing Examiner’s next review yet.
