November 14, 2013

B.C. developer InHaus will build 20 condos in the heart of Ballard

Rendering courtesy of InHaus Development [enlarge]

Pre-sales will begin in January, with prices starting in the mid $200,000s.

Vancouver, B.C.-based InHaus Development plans to start construction early next year on 20 condo units at 2018 N.W. 57th St. in Ballard.

The seven-story Solo Lofts was designed by Chris Pardo Design of Seattle and will be built by Absher Construction.

The units will be marketed by Redfin Builder Services, a new premium marketing and listing service from Seattle-based Redfin.

Pre-sales will begin in January, with prices starting in the mid $200,000s.

The project is slated for completion in December of 2014. It will have eight one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units, and four penthouses. Sizes range from 500 to 1,200 square feet.

The condos will have floor-to-ceiling windows, polished concrete floors, exposed duct work, LED lighting under cabinets, European-style faucets, ceramic tile floors and backsplashes, quartz countertops, and dual-flush toilets. They will be pre-wired for Internet and audiovisual.

Two penthouses will have private rooftop decks, and the other units will share a rooftop deck. There will be 10 underground parking stalls.

Solo Lofts is seeking a Built Green 4-star rating, with sustainably sourced construction materials, low-maintenance metal cladding, solar panels, a heat recovery ventilation system, and highly-efficient lighting and on-demand hot water.

The site is near restaurants and shops, and on the same block as the Greenfire Campus and Ballard Public Library.

Dave deBruyn, who co-owns InHaus Development with Peter Kefalas, said he and his wife have visited Ballard over the past 10 years. Chris Pardo, who designed award-winning housing for the firm in Canada, recommended that he check out properties in Ballard.

DeBruyn said the neighborhood has stable buyers. It's where people go to settle down when they are out of their 20s, he said.

The restaurant scene is good, but fairly quiet. “It doesn't have the noise and clubs and ruckus that you would see on Capitol Hill and downtown,” he said.

DeBruyn said InHaus plans to start another condo project by mid next year in Ballard with 39 units, but declined to give details.

The firm was formed in 2010 and develops single-family, multifamily and condo units. So far it has developed more than 50, all in Canada. Previously deBruyn and Kefalas owned their own development firms.

Adam Wiener, vice president of analytics and new business with Redfin, said in the past 15 years condo prices in Ballard have risen an average of 5.62 percent annually, and jumped 8 percent in the last year, based on King County sales records and Multiple Listing Service data.

Wiener said there are few condos for sale in Ballard — at times less than a month's supply. Solo Lofts will be attractive because of its green design and modern architecture, he said.

Seattle apartments have been booming in recent years, but few condos are getting built.

The condo projects include Bosa Development's twin 41-story towers called Insignia that will bring 707 condos to downtown and Trinity Real Estate's Residences at Fairview, a 21-unit complex on Lake Union. Developer Claudio Guincher is building 120 condos in Ballard.

Chris Pardo's firm Pb Elemental came onto the Seattle architectural scene before the recession, winning an AIA honor award just three years after Pardo and David Biddle founded it.

During the recession the firm faced many of the same challenges of other local firms, such as seeing big projects put on hold and having to lay off staff.