The owners of the property where the Sloop Tavern has been operating for 68 years have put the building and the adjacent King Smoke Shop up for sale.
Sloop Tavern (2830 NW Market St) is one of the longest-standing bars in Ballard. The building was built in 1953; the bar has been the only tenant since then.
Sloop owner Patrick Files tells My Ballard that they are hoping to find someone to buy the building to keep the Sloop as it is. He says the property isn’t zoned for condos or apartments.
Ole Olson was the original owner of Sloop—he brought the idea from England after the Great War. The tavern still has a photo of the bar that was the inspiration: The “Sloop Inn” was the original Sloop somewhere in England.
After a few ownership changes in the first few decades, “local legend Big Wayne” took over the bar because he wanted a place to hang out with his sailor friends while they docked at Shilshole Marina.
The Sloop Tavern Yacht Club was born in 1977 with the help of a local sailor, Peter Martinson, turning it into a “blue-collar yacht club for everyday sailors and liveaboards,” the Sloop website says.
Charley Files bought the Sloop in 1999, and his son Patrick took over in 2011 when Charley passed away.
“The Sloop is the last tavern in Ballard and a true Ballard original and as we say, ‘It’s always happy hour at the Sloop!!'” Sloop shared on their website.
The real estate listing prices the Sloop property at $1.2 million. The building next door (2834 NW Market St), the former King’s Smoke Shop, is also for sale for $1.27 million. King Smoke Shop is now operating only at 7758 15th Ave NW.
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