Six-story hotel among plans for building boom in Ballard

In the latest wave of development that's transforming once-sleepy Ballard, the neighborhood could be getting its first new hotel in decades.

Silver Cloud Inns & Hotels has applied with the city to build a six-story, 175-room hotel next to the Yankee Grill at 5425 Shilshole Ave. N.W.

Bellevue-based Silver Cloud runs seven inns in the Seattle area and is building an eighth just north of Safeco Field.

Chris Weymouth, a member of the family that owns Silver Cloud, said he has been looking for years for a place to build in Ballard.

"If any site in Ballard is made for a hotel, it would be this site," Weymouth said. "Hopefully people will have a positive reaction to it."

The hotel is the latest of a half-dozen major development projects proposed or under construction in Ballard's central business district. They include:

• An $80 million two-phase condominium and retail project called Canal Station on the former Ford dealership on Leary Way Northwest, a block south of Northwest Market Street. The first phase is proposed to include 169 condos and 12,000 square feet of retail space.

The developer is Continental Properties of Bellevue, which specializes in luxury apartments and midpriced condos.

Continental built the 162-unit Ballard Condominiums and the 172-unit Ballard Place Condominiums on Northwest 57th Street between 15th and 17th avenues northwest.

• Two eight-story towers in the late stages of planning for Market Street just west of 15th Avenue Northwest and near a proposed monorail station.

The project, being developed by PrydeJohnson Urban Environments of Seattle, includes 174 apartments and five "live-work" lofts above a bank.

• A significant retail project with a health club and a five-level, 468-vehicle parking garage just east of 15th Avenue Northwest near the Ballard Bridge. The Bridge Group is trying to get permits to build.

The proposed retail space, 75,000 square feet, would be about half the size of a Costco warehouse.

The two sites proposed are 1416 N.W. 46th St. and 4609 14th Ave. N.W., city planning-department records show.

• A "boutique" condo with shops, called the Metropole, is being built on 24th Avenue Northwest at Northwest 57th Street.

• An expanded state liquor store is planned for Market Street near 28th Avenue Northwest.

Beth Miller, executive director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, said Ballard is long overdue for a hotel, so the Silver Cloud's plans are welcome.

But she said the location is a sensitive one because it's in the middle of Ballard's historic industrial district, between Ballard Oil and Ballard Sand and Gravel.

"I think people will begin to get nervous when they see industrial uses change," she said. "We really do have a wonderful maritime history."

The hotel is planned for a site occupied by a restaurant, so it wouldn't be displacing industrial users.

Warren Aakervik, chairman of the Ballard District Council and owner of Ballard Oil, said he welcomes the hotel but not its location.

He's concerned about development that would encroach on waterfront industry by bringing traffic and people who might complain about nighttime noise from fishing boats and railroad engines.

Some of Ballard's industrial businesses along Shilshole Avenue are still stinging from the city's decision to extend the Burke-Gilman Trail along that street, which is frequently congested with commuters and concrete trucks.

Weymouth said he has begun talking to neighbors and Ballard businesses about their concerns.

Tom Boyer: 206-464-2923 or tboyer@seattletimes.com