The renovation of the Kolstrand Building (4743 Ballard Ave NW) has begun.
The Kolstrand Building before work started.
We took a tour of the early 1900’s building, where several businesses will soon be moving in. Ballard’s TurnStyle, Duo PR, and Dutch Bike Company have all signed leases, owner/developer Chad Dale tells us. A personal wine storage facility with wine tasting room will be in the basement and two unnamed restaurants will share the first floor with the bike company.
A look at yesteryear. Photo courtesy Chad Dale.
Hidden beneath the plaster, which Dale believes has been up for the better part of a century, workers are discovering quite a bit of character. Above is a shot of what used to be an exterior wall advertising groceries for a nickel.
View of the Ship Canal from the penthouse patio.
Only one spot in the historic building remains unclaimed. The 2269 square foot penthouse is still available. With windows along the northeast and eastern walls, you get a view of Phinney Ridge and the Ship Canal. There is also a 300 square-foot patio off to the east. The penthouse is zoned commercial, not residential, so no one can legally live there.
A look at the ceiling of the penthouse. Photo courtesy Chad Dale.
Dale tells us tenants will begin moving in around the middle of June. Developers are planning a second phase of construction in the future, adding more space out back, including an 800 square foot caretaker’s unit.
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Roof top bar! Roof top bar!
Ballard Militia HQ.
…..& Bar
Well, of course the My Ballard Militia will have to have a bar! :-)
Good job, guys. Lookin' good.
This is going to be one sweet building when done!
Why do we need this yuppie stuff? Where am I gonna get my marine hardware?
Whoever inherits this space MUST leave that grocery signage untouched.
At the places in Ballard that still sell it, like Ballard Hardware?
Absolutely!!!!
Ditto!!!!!
Will the bar be just for the officers or are the enlisted allowed?
Of course babes of all ranks are allowed in!
Yeah, the place screams bar!!!!!
And the yuppies shall inherit the earth… briefly… before it all crashes down around their heads because there are no real jobs left anymore….
Please give me a break.
They are. It's going to be beautiful.
…”And the yuppies shall inherit the earth… briefly… before it all crashes down around their heads because there are no real jobs left anymore….”
except all those jobs created by yuppies spending all their yuppie money….
Well after I spend a hard day breaking 2×4's with my bare hands, mixing concrete with my my bare feet, pounding nails with my fist, and tying steel bars with my bare hands I plan to go up to the roof top bar (HQ of the Ballard militia – see above posts) and have a few vodka martinis and tapas before heading home.
It is a cool old building and I hope the clients who occupy it succeed!
By the way, I did all those as a teenager, only I used a saw, a concrete mixer, a hammer, and gloves. Because of doing those I got my PhD so I wouldn't have to do them again, except in the process of home improvement.
So shove the working-class-hero crap back up your ass. It is a sign of vulgarity and a lack of intelligence.
According to the State Liquor Board, a restaurant/lounge named “The Walrus & The Carpenter” applied for a liquor license at this location on 2/18/10.
Ain't that the truth Mark! I guess yuppies don't need marine hardware, they can't stick it in their Ex-Boxes or drink their Chateau de Chasselas from it.
There's likely a few Renee Erickson's in town, so I wouldn't count on it, but that would be amazing. She's one of the top few chefs in the PNW – it would be an incredible score for Ballard!
I'l keep my fingers crossed. She does live in Ballard but I guess so do quite a few other Ericksons! We'll keep diggin'.
All we need in Ballard is fish and chips! Who needs all this fancy yuppie, organic food? It doesn't even go well with coke and a cigarette.
Renee is opening the Walrus and Carpenter here. Ethan Stowell is also opening here. Exciting stuff.
“Who needs all this fancy yuppie, organic food? ” Yuppies and hippster of course …. Do you want them to go hungry ?
PhD's are overrated, is at-least in something useful ?
The old Ballard is gone forever. The day will come in the not too distance future that the ship canal will be lined with 5 story condos. All the shipyard work and non-yuppy businesses will be displaced to lower Hondrakaville.
I cannot think of a business catering to more “yuppies” than the boat building/repair and service industries. Obviously the comments referring to the “marine” industry are by folks outside of it. Neighborhoods change all the time, I would imaging the Indians were a bit alarmed by the “fishing” industry which created a industrial Ballard.
What place is Ethan Stowell opening?
Oyster bar!