Plans for the Olympic Athletic Club to turn adjacent property on Ballard Avenue into a $14 million, 29-room boutique hotel are back underway after trouble with financing the project caused delays.

Construction for the hotel was originally meant to begin in October 2007, but the recent mortgage crisis prevented the owners of the club from acquiring all the funding necessary, said Mark Durall, general manager and part owner of the club.

Durall said he is hoping for construction to get underway this year and the club is currently accepting bids from contractors.

The two other owners, Jim and Debera Riggle, sold their home in order to finance part of the project, Durall said.

"This is their vision and they are committed to making this happen," he said.

Durall said the club has so far spent $300,000 on architectural, environmental, engineering and permit fees.

This month the club demolished one of the buildings on the two pieces of property it acquired for $3 million in February 2007. Durall said the club plans to demolish the other building, currently being used for parking, in September.

The new hotel will be four stories and 65,000 square feet and will include retail space, a restaurant and three levels of underground parking.

Durall said the athletic club itself would expand by 15,000 square feet with the construction of the new hotel to accommodate a new Pilates studio and additional racquetball courts, among other features.

In June, the Olympic Athletic Club had come into conflict with the Ballard Avenue Landmark District Board over the replacement of a sign that had been stolen from its property, but Durall said the board has approved of all plans for the new hotel.

He said the owners of the club met with the board before coming up with a proposal and included the board in the design process.

"[The Riggles] wanted to construct the hotel in a way that would accurately reflect the old-world charm and history of Ballard," Durall said.

Durall said the owners want to build a hotel in part to fill a service gap in the Ballard area.

"The comment we've gotten from our members for years is, 'We want a hotel,'" he said.

But there is another hotel in Ballard's near future.

Chris Weymouth, a member of the family that owns the Silver Cloud Inn chain, said construction on the Point Hotel at Salmon Bay will most likely break ground in October after a number of delays.

Weymouth and Don Schwartz, owners of the future hotel that will open on the lot currently housing the closed Yankee Diner, will operate it independently of the Silver Cloud chain.

Though construction has not yet gotten underway, Weymouth said the Point Hotel has already donated $30,000 to improve the road where 24th Avenue meets Shilshole Avenue by adding curbs, benches and landscaping.

Weymouth said he's not concerned about competition with the Olympic Athletic Club's hotel because the two will serve different clientele. The $25-million Point Hotel will be larger than the Olympic Athletic Club's hotel and will seek to serve the industrial workers in the area, part of the city of Seattle's requirement for building lodging on industrial zoned land.

Durall as well said there's no concern about inter-hotel competition because there is a large enough need for hotels in the area, as well as the difference in a target customer base.

The club's hotel will cater to people looking for a four-star experience and will include a swimming pool, spa and room service from a new restaurant from the owners of Volterra on Ballard Avenue that will be located in the building, he said.

Michael Harthorne may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com.