Come bask in the southern exposure and territorial view of this one bedroom plus den. One of the nicest pet-friendly buildings in Ballard, The Vik. Great floor plan; the den can double as a guest space, office, or nursery. Building amenities galore. A rooftop deck, dog run, fitness center, and beautiful lobby with concierge. Secure garage parking for one car. Fantastic location, walk to all that is wonderful about downtown Ballard. Why wouldn’t you want to live here?
With a near-perfect Walkscore of 97, you can find just about everything just a few skips from the front door. Ballard’s beloved restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and music venues, of course—but also the places you don’t think about until you settle into daily life. You can walk a single block to an award-winning library. A movie theater, FedEx, pet care store, boutique, and used bookstore are all just a two-minute walk away. Maybe three minutes if your shoe keeps coming untied. And for groceries, within a 0.4-mile walk you can take your pick of Safeway, QFC, Walgreens, or the local Ballard Market.
Enough about everything around the condo. What’s it like inside? The building is the vik, which is one of the newest condominium buildings in all of Seattle (built in 2016), with all the state-of-the-art amenities you’d expect (and probably some you didn’t). A fitness center, parking garage, extra storage, and electric car charging, of course, but my favorite part: the landscaped rooftop deck complete with lounge area, barbecue grills, firepit, and a dog run (two pets are allowed with no breed or weight restrictions). Rooftop parties belong here. The vik also has a 24-hour concierge and, according to one resident, “a very pro-active facilities manager. He even comes by on weekends to take care of surprise issues like a stuck garage or whatever comes up. He has all the contacts and is quick to respond to maintenance issues. A really nice perk is that he delivers your packages right to your door, even the big heavy ones.”
For the more technical details, the vik is a contemporary mid-rise (which in Ballard means it has an unbeatable view) with 117 units. There’s no rental cap, and although you’re free to rent it out, you’d be in the minority if you do. Owner occupancy is just shy of 90%; almost everyone who can live here chooses to. The HOA is well managed with healthy reserves. The board took a conservative approach and increased dues a small amount the last two years to quickly amass enough reserves to prepare the HOA for the unforeseen—but despite these increases, the vik’s HOA dues are still lower than most in Seattle, especially for a building this pristine and new.
Inside the unit, you’ll find 9-foot ceilings, upscale fixtures and fittings, hardwood floors, quartz countertops, and a designer kitchen and bathroom. The view is far and away better than those of other condos on the market right now, and the den can double a guest space, office, or nursery.