By Mark Davis

“Ballard is rapidly becoming a community of carpetbaggers and commuters.  More than 100 years after the first land boom in Ballard, another land boom is making affordable housing a faint but fond memory.” - quoted from Early Ballard (Arcadia, 2007)

Here, then, is a rundown of the “land boom” in 2010. 

Blandmark

The main—or at least the largest—development stories in Ballard revolve around large, mostly featureless, five-plus-story, mixed-use blocks.  Some finally opened, months behind schedule.  Others were reviewed and approved by the City’s Design Review Board.  No new blocks broke ground in 2010.
Earlier in the year, I wrote about the Ballard Blandmark.  I described a “Blandmark” as essentially the inverse of a landmark, an absence, rather than a presence, and noted how the contenders for Blandmark status were lining up in Ballard, so many, in fact, that it might make sense to just designate a Blandmark District. 

The latest contenders for Blandmark status in 2010 were the Ballard on the Park development with the new QFC and apartments above, followed by the Danielle Condos, both located north of Market Street on 24th Ave NW.  If there’s any truth in the advertising, the Danielle Condos are now 40 percent sold.  Other existing condo developments continued to struggle with sales, with the Hjarta, next to the Denny’s site on Market, undergoing a radical rebranding and a potential change of location.

Ballard Branch Library, R.I.P

Also on 24th Ave NW (can you say Blandmark District?), the Design Review Board gave conditional approval earlier this month for the Ballard West project, yet another multi-story, mixed-use whatever, this one on the site of the former Ballard Branch Library.  Another similar development on NW 15th across from the Ballard High School, reviewed by the Design Review Board in November, was met by resistance from neighbors.  An interesting variation on the familiar theme—a mixed-use castle/condo—proposed for NW 63rd Street seems to have largely dropped out of sight in recent months.

Urness House -- the neighbors can hardly wait

In another interesting variation, the Compass Housing Alliance’s proposal to build another new Blandmark—Urness House, this one exclusively for homeless folks–was appealed by local businesses and residents after getting what certainly appeared to be a rubber stamp of approval from the city.  And hard on the heels of that, folks came out in force to contest a possible proposal to build an urban rest stop and more facilities for the homeless just blocks from the proposed Urness House site.  Not that Ballard is poised to become the new Pioneer Square or anything like that.  But–and please correct me if I’m wrong–I don’t see any proposals for similar developments in Queen Anne, Magnolia, Wallingford, Laurelhurst, etc. and certainly not two this large within blocks of one another.

Speak for yourself

Two of Ballard’s favorite large vacant lots were also in the news.  “Guerilla art” at the Sunset Bowl site—I’d Rather be Bowling—expressed the sentiments of many, but was quickly replaced by a different officially sanctioned paper installation, swapping bowling pins for viking helmets and paper flags.  Similar copycat art attacks occurred at the notorious former Denny’s site—You’d rather be eating at Denny’s, really?
The vacant Denny’s site was also highlighted in a New York Times article about local landmarks demolished for new developments that failed to materialize.  The big news about the Denny’s site, however, was its sale by Benaroya Companies to the apartment conglomerate Equity Residential of Chicago in October for $12.5 million.  The old chainlink fence was down within a couple of days and almost immediately replaced with a new chainlink fence.  Progress at last.

Henry Rides Again

In vaguely related news, folks got quite excited when the locally infamous “Henry” repainted one of his murals on 8th Ave NW.  “Henry is the antidote to the condofication of Ballard and surrounding environs. You go Henry!” gushed one comment author, who later proposed we rename the neighborhood “Henrylard or Ballenry.”  Hilarious.  Others commented that their kids love Henry.  Well, duh.  The rest of us?  Well, there goes the neighborhood, again.

On that note: Happy New Year and all the best for 2011.