At least 14 development projects with a total value approaching a quarter of $1 billion are in process in a 100 acre area around downtown Ballard. When these projects are finished, there will be at least 1500 new residential units, more than 1000 parking stalls and 200,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in the same area.

Changes are coming to Ballard. Whether those changes are good or bad depends on who you talk to but the land grab is on.

“Ballard has being laying fallow for as long as I’ve been in the business,” said Barry Hawley, who has worked as a realtor in Ballard more than 40 years.

Hawley rattles off a list of reasons for Ballard’s new-found popularity. The character, the community feel, the