Dale - My Ballard

Cyclists take over 22nd Avenue

05/23/201005/21/2010 by Dale

Cyclists from across north Seattle pedaled their way to downtown Ballard for the Bike to Work After Party and Summer Streets event on 22nd Avenue between Ballard Avenue NW and NW Market Street earlier this evening.

Hundreds of brightly dressed, helmet-wearing, Lycra clad riders took to the street, snagging free offerings from various vendor booths, including these Cliff Bar samples.

Many waited in line to ride the Dutch Bicycle Company’s humongous, seven-seat Conference Bike.

Some had their picture taken by Michael Stearns as part of his ByPedal Project.

Possible ‘double dip’ in home values?

02/12/2010 by Dale

And now in more (not so) good news on the economic front, Zillow is suggesting that there may be a looming “double-dip” in home values.

At least from Seattle’s perspective, we’re not listed as one of most likely candidates for another drop in value, but data from Zillow’s Home Value Index indicates if you bought anytime in the last few years, your home is probably worth less than when you bought it.

Here’s a chart showing the change in values over the last five years.

Zillow Home Value Index

More Seattle Home Values

According to Zillow, here are some toplevel findings:

Decreasing Home Values: Home values changed -5.8% to a Zillow Home Value Index of $300,400. Values also fell in the short-term, changing -0.5% from November to December. The Zillow Home Value Index measures the value of all homes, not just those that sold in a particular period.
Homes with Negative equity: 22 percent of all owners of single-family homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of Q4.
Foreclosure re-sales: 19.5 percent of all sales in December were foreclosure re-sales (REO sales). Nationally, foreclosure re-sales made up 20.3 percent of all sales.
Homes sold for a loss: 18.5% of all homes sold in December sold for a loss.

I’m not a real estate analyst, so I’ll point to the SeattlePI for more information.

Dental office burglary suspect sought

11/25/2009 by Dale

Remember that recent string of area dental office burglaries where someone was stealing dental gold and drugs? Well now the Seattle Police Department has named a suspect: 26-year-old Shane L. Carlson. Police say he’s the prime suspect in burglaries stretching from North and West Seattle, to Bothell, Shoreline and Bellevue, dating as far back as May. PhinneyWood …

Serial burglar targets dental office gold, drugs

10/14/200910/14/2009 by Dale

Several Ballard businesses have been hit by a serial burglar or burglars who are targeting dental and medical offices, taking drugs and dental gold, including gold crowns, Detective Mark Jamieson of Seattle Police says. PhinneyWood reports that one burglary netted $10,000 in scrap gold. The suspect(s) seem to be hitting offices in north Seattle. PhinneyWood …

Tigertail closure update

09/28/200909/28/2009 by Dale

Update 5:45 p.m.: Just went by Tigertail again this afternoon and noticed a letter from the Department of Revenue in the window. The Sept. 17 letter states that Tigertail’s Certificate of Registration has been revoked because of three unpaid tax warrants in the amounts of $6,897.34, $10,397.76 and $12,970.20. The warrants were issued Aug. 28, …

Maritime Pacific Brewery is moving

07/05/200907/04/2009 by Dale

But it’s not moving far: a few blocks east to a former manufacturing building at 1111 NW Ballard Way, a block away from Trader Joe’s.

Owner George Hancock said the move to the 22,000-square-foot building will give them the space they need to meet growing demand, especially for bottled beer. At their current location (below), the staff can brew four batches of 16 barrels per day. At the new location, they’re putting in a brewhouse that can produce up to four batches of 40 barrels per day.

“We can’t make enough of the Imperial Pale. We can’t make enough Seattle Lager. We have a hard time keeping up bottling Imperial IPA,” Hancock said. With the additional capacity and a dedicated bottling room, he says they’ll be able to distribute other beers that rarely see the inside of a bottle — favorites like Salmon Bay ESB, Bosun’s Black Porter and Seattle Lager.

Sign goes up at Take 5 Urban Market

02/15/200902/15/2009 by Dale

The sign is up out front and they’re stocking the shelves and the deli case inside Take 5 Urban Market, located at the corner of 8th Ave. and 70th St. We wrote a week ago about the new market, which replaces the Wicker Basket. One new detail: it’ll also have espresso made from Phinney Ridge’s …

Donations collection for puppy mill dogs

06/06/201202/14/2009 by Dale

Seattle Natural Veterinary Center at 65th and 8th Ave. here in Ballard is taking donations to help out the more than 600 dogs that have been rescued from suspected puppy mills in Skagit and Snohomish counties last month. All donations will be given to Saving Pets One at a Time (SPOT), a rescue organization in …

Swedish gets approval for 5-story addition

02/13/2009 by Dale

Swedish Medical Center in Ballard has gotten approval from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development for a sizable addition on the north side of the building. Here’s the description on the permit request: Land Use Application to allow a 109,000 sq. ft. addition to an existing hospital (Swedish Medical Center, Ballard Campus). Project includes 35,060 …

Icy snow blankets area, school start delayed

02/09/200902/09/2009 by Dale

A thin layer of crunchy, compact snow and ice is covering the area, especially East Ballard, Sunset Hill and Crown Hill. Seattle Public Schools are running two hours late, there’s no kindergarten, Head Start or door-to-door programs today as well. 6:32 a.m. update: If you’re a Microsoftie, or otherwise heading to work on the Eastside, …

Serial condo burglars plague Ballard, Greenwood

02/04/200902/04/2009 by Dale

A group of serial burglars have been hitting parking garages and storage lockers at condos near 15th and Market and 85th and Greenwood in Greenwood, reports Q13 Fox, which aired surveillance video of the suspects. Police say the female suspect is in her early 20’s; about 5’5 tall with dark hair and a heavy build. …

‘Deathcake Royale’ coming for T-Day

11/22/200811/21/2008 by Dale

Cupcake Royale’s traditional Valentine’s Day chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate (and coffee) heart-stopper, the $6.95 Deathcake Royale, is making a one day appearance next Wednesday. Anyone who wants to get their hands on it has to place a special order by Tuesday. The Ballard store number is 782-9557.