A proposal to convert former office space at The Commons at Ballard into 23 apartments is moving through Seattle’s permitting process.
According to a permit application filed with the city, the project would convert more than 23,000 square feet of office space at 5621 22nd Ave. NW into 23 residential units. The space was formerly occupied by Gravity Payments, which relocated its headquarters earlier this year.
The project is participating in Seattle’s Office-to-Residential Conversion Program, an initiative launched by Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development to encourage the reuse of underused office buildings for housing. The city says the program is intended to increase housing supply while putting vacant office space back into use.
The Commons at Ballard opened in 2016 as a six-story mixed-use development on the site of the former Ballard Commons Bartell Drugs. The building includes 84 apartments above ground-floor retail and office space, with Bartell Drugs returning as the anchor retail tenant after redevelopment. Last year, the Bartell Drugs location closed amid Rite Aid’s second bankruptcy.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Gravity Payments vacated the building earlier this year, leaving two floors of office space available for redevelopment.
According to the city, the Ballard proposal is one of several office-to-residential conversion projects underway across Seattle. If completed, it would create 23 apartments by repurposing more than 23,000 square feet of existing office space.
The project is currently undergoing technical corrections with the city, with resubmittal efforts in progress this month, according to the Office of Planning and Community Development.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that construction is expected to begin this summer.
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