May 11, 2023

136 Ballard units could be yours to build

Rendering by Hybrid Architecture [enlarge]

The current plan was developed under the old zoning. A buyer could now go higher.

A Ballard corner development site sold six years back for about $2.2 million, and it then seemed that Mac's Upholstery wasn't long for this world. But things have proceeded more slowly than expected for the apartments planned at 5011 15th Ave. N.W.

Hybrid Architecture and Calhoun Property Management secured a master use permit in 2021 for their five-story, 136-unit project, which might have carried the aPodment brand. (It's also been known as Ponte, for the ownership LLC.) The project has been dormant for some time, and construction permit is still pending.

Then, in March, Brian Fairchild of Commercial Space Advisors put the corner on the market, unpriced. Mac's has departed for North Seattle; its lease was to expire in 2021, though the move was evidently last year. No current tenants are mentioned in the listing, which states that the entitlements will be transferred on sale to the buyer. There's also no deadline for offers. Nor is there any sign of a demolition permit.

As the project now stands, with no parking, there would be 132 congregate units with shared kitchens and amenities — but private bathrooms. Four apartments would be larger and private live/work units.

The current plan totals about 32,382 square feet. The team also included Davido, civil engineer; Ken Large Landscape Architect; Geotech Consultants; and Swenson Say Faget, structural engineer.

The corner offers 9,607 square feet. Calhoun, led by Gary Mulhair, initiated the current plan before the Mandatory Housing Affordability upzone for that part of the city. So an investor could build it with no MHA fee.

The Calhoun project is also very much a pre-pandemic proposal, and the business model of partially shared living quarters now seems to have fallen into disfavor. Instead, SEDUs, or small efficiency dwelling units, now seem to be more favored for dense, affordable/workforce housing projects.

Thus, with the new zoning cap of 75 feet, an entirely new plan could add two stories in height. That would require some two-odd years for a patient developer. An interesting wrinkle is the neighbor to the west: the headquarters building for KAVU, which is not listed for sale. (The parcel has 5,100 square feet.)

KAVU has meanwhile been planning an expansion of its Old Ballard retail building, with offices and apartments above the store. That proposal, which requires approval from the Ballard Avenue Landmarks District Board, has also been rather slow in recent years — but doesn't appear dead.

So there could be a few interesting moves ahead on the Ballard chessboard.