A six-story hotel building is being planned for along Shilshole Avenue Northwest, but before land-use permits are issued, the city's department of planning and development wants to be sure the hotel won't conflict with industrial uses in the area.

Plans have been in the works for nearly two years to build the Silver Cloud Inn, a 175-room hotel with ground-floor retail. The hotel would be built on property adjoining the site of Ballard's iconic Yankee Grill restaurant, which closed last spring.

Silver Cloud Inns and Hotels recently purchased the site from Panos Properties; a Mill Creek based company that also owns the restaurant property.

The project has been moving slowly because the site, in industrial zoned land, triggered an environmental review process and a special evaluation to allow for lodging, said Molly Hurley with the city's department of planning and development.

During the review process, the project has been returned to the applicants several times for corrections regarding traffic and parking impacts. Though it does slow the process, Hurley said that's not unusual.

"A couple of years is kind of a long time, but it's not absolutely out of the realm of experience," she said.

Certain uses are allowed outright on industrial zoned land, while others like lodging are allowed as conditional uses. Hotels are permitted as long as the developers can demonstrate that it will be designed primarily to serve the users in the industrial area.

Holly Anderson, a project manger with the city, said she plans to ask the applicants to provide additional details about that.

"I have some questions," said Anderson. "Their responses were not very complete."

The local industrial community isn't fighting the new development, but they do have some concerns, said Eugene Wasserman, president of the North Seattle Industrial Association. Ideally, the association would like to see that all land zoned for industrial purposes are used as such, he said.

"It (the hotel) could be built anywhere, but we realize they have a legal right to be there," said Wasserman. "We'll all have to learn to get along I guess."

John Kane, chairman of the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center Action Committee, said there are always concerns that industrial land isn't used for manufacturing or industrial uses.

"But this parcel has been a restaurant for a very long time (since the mid-1970s)," said Kane. "In a best-case scenario, we would prefer that it be used for maritime uses...but it appears that will not occur."

Of major concern to some business owners is that hotel guests might complain about the construction noise and lighting coming from nearby businesses that operate heavy equipment, said Doug Dixon, general manager of Pacific Fisherman Inc., a ship and yacht repair yard located several yards to the west of the hotel site.

Kane agreed that the hotel could be a "receptor for noise," but that will depend on how well the construction of the building can mitigate outside noise, he said.

Neighbor's concerns have been factored into the hotel design, said Edi Linardic, chief architect for the Silver Could Inn.

There will be heavy drapes to block out light and thicker glass for westerly windows that face Dixon's business. Additional wall insulation and soundproofing will also be added to mitigate impact from potential noise.

The 65-foot tall hotel could also act as a buffer between the condos to the east and industry to the west, said Linardic, who also designed the Silver Cloud Inn located in Capitol Hill. Guests who only stay a night or two probably wouldn't be as put off by the noise and lights as much as residents who might have to deal with it everyday, he said.

Dixon said he's also worried that hotel traffic could upset his day-to-day operations, such as freight transportation to and from his site.

"As long as those concerns are taken care of there's not much we can do to stop them-and we don't want to stop them," he said. "I think it'll be great to have a hotel in Ballard."

But Wasserman thinks the applicants will have a hard time demonstrating the need for a hotel in an industrial community.

Several local businesses reported they would use the hotel for annual conventions and conferences, according to a marketing study conducted by the applicants. But Anderson said it's still too early to say whether the project will be approved because it's difficult to determine if the use is justifiable. When asked how the city would decide that, she said, "carefully."

There are also plans to make some structural and aesthetic improvements to 24th Avenue. The developers plan to build a cul-de-sac at the end of the road before it meets the Lake Washington Ship Canal and sidewalks and landscaping would be added. The company also agreed to install parking spaces along 24th for Pacific Fisherman employees.

If the hotel is built, it will mark the ninth location for the Silver Cloud Inn hotel chain in the Seattle area and it would be Ballard's first hotel.

The project calls for more than 4,000-square feet of ground-floor retail and parking for 200 above and below ground. Construction of the $15 million hotel could start by this summer, Linardic said.

The future is also uncertain for the building that was once home to the Yankee Grill restaurant. The restaurant, known for it's hearty portions of standard American meals, closed last spring because it was losing money.

Currently a catering service operates out of the space. According to a representative from Panos Properties, the company that owns the property, "every possibility is being considered for the building," including another restaurant. However, long-term plans are on hold until the hotel project is decided.