The area is a popular tourist attraction and has one of the densest clusters of breweries in the United States. Will it continue despite headwinds and uncertainty?
SEATTLE — One of the first breweries to open in what is now the Ballard Brewery District took a chance on an industrial area that looked very different than it does today.
When Reuben’s Brews opened in 2012, co-founder Adam Robbings said there were few breweries in the area east of Northwest 15th Avenue and north of Leary Way. Within a few years, more breweries followed suit, transforming a small area of industrial land into one of the highest concentrations of craft breweries in the country.
“We’re pursuing this idea because we’re not far from the rest of the city and new housing units are being built in the area,” Robbins told KING 5.
Today, the area is a well-known tourist attraction, with the Port of Seattle promoting it as a featured destination for Seattle visitors disembarking from the Shilshole Bay Pier.
The city also wants the center to become an economic hub and predicts its growth and development in the coming years.
A draft zoning plan for Seattle’s Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center (BINMIC) identifies the Ballard Brewery Cluster as an economic asset that will revitalize parts of the industrial center by repurposing older buildings and attracting visitors to nearby neighborhoods. It calls for supporting breweries and wineries through infrastructure investments and marketing efforts.
For brewery owners, however, the conversation is increasingly focused on access.
“One of the highlights is the tap room, and those are all about foot traffic,” Robbins said.
The emphasis comes as the broader craft beer industry faces headwinds. Robbins cited industry data showing a national decline in craft beer production last year, with hundreds of breweries closing across the country.
He said transit was one of the reasons Reuben chose Ballard and remains important to the area’s future, even as the Sound Transit Commission considers whether it can afford a Link extension through Seattle Center amid a $34.5 billion budget gap.
“As a user, it’s great to be able to be connected,” Robbins said of future light rail service.
But despite widespread support from brewery owners Long-planned Ballard Link expansionsome say the project feels too distant and uncertain to influence near-term decisions.
“We absolutely support a strong transit system that helps people get around Seattle more safely and efficiently,” Andy Gundel, co-owner and principal operator of Urban Family Brewing, told KING 5. “When thinking about Ballard’s future, light rail seems too far away and uncertain at this point.”
Gundel said the future station is “clearly a win for Ballard and the Brewery District,” and said city families support local leaders’ efforts to implement the project.
“While we wait, we hope the city will invest in helping the community improve bus service, freight access, sidewalks, lighting, sanitation and the sense of safety people feel when living or visiting around the Ballard Brewery District,” Gunder said.
The comments reflect the broader uncertainty gripping the region.
Seattle’s draft BINMIC plan repeatedly proposes future light rail service via Interbay and Ballard.
The document identifies future stations at Smith’s Bay, Draught Street and North West Market Street as focal points for job growth and calls for transport-oriented industrial development around the hubs.
Yet the future of these stations remains uncertain.
The Sound Transit Commission has not yet finalized a long-term financial strategy for the Ballard expansion, and several options discussed publicly would delay the line’s completion beyond the timeline originally presented to voters.
As a result, city officials face planning challenges as they try to prepare for a future that may arrive years later than expected.
The Office of Planning and Community Development said it does not attempt to predict what Sound Transit Commission will ultimately decide.
Instead, planners say the draft zoning plan is designed to accommodate both outcomes.
The agency said the plan “has considered the possible establishment of the Ballard station and includes ways for BINMIC to prepare for and benefit from it.”
“If anything changes, we can update the plan,” OPCD said. “The area is currently zoned to bring more jobs and dense development near potential stations, while still allowing traditional industrial uses if the station is not built.”
The uncertainty is especially frustrating for Ballard business advocates, who have been pushing for rail service to reach the community for years.
Mike Stewart, executive director of the Ballard Alliance, said the organization has supported the Ballard Link project since voters approved the ST3 package in 2016. The coalition advocates for a tunnel under the Ship Canal and continues to push for completion of the Market Street extension.
“Ballard is the only regional center that doesn’t have light rail,” Stewart told KING 5.
Stewart said the coalition appreciates Sound Transit’s recent commitment to continue designing the line through Market Street but wants a clearer timeline on when the project will actually be built.
“We need a firm date,” Stewart said. He added that the board needed to provide “a clear timeline and ways to expedite that timeline.”
While business leaders continue to press for rail service, many of the improvements brewery owners seek are already included in Seattle’s transportation levy plan.
Projects identified for the next few years include signal timing improvements along Northwest 15th Avenue, freight corridor improvements connecting BINMIC to Interstate 5 and Interstate 99, completion of missing connections to the Burke-Gilman Trail, lighting and public space improvements, repaving portions of Northwest Market Street and continued restoration of the Ballard Bridge.
The draft BINMIC plan sees such investment as key to balancing the area’s industrial functions with growing numbers of workers and visitors.
When asked about the walkability and public-facing industrial businesses mentioned in the plan, OPCD said the goal is not to transform the area into a traditional mixed-use urban village.
When asked if the city wanted Ballard to be a pedestrian-friendly urban community, an OPCD spokesperson responded: “I think what you’re reading in these plans is just a recognition that these areas involve people and we need to plan for the movement of people and the movement of freight. “Freight is a priority, people are there, and we need to plan for their safe movement.”
This balancing act can be seen throughout the plan, which seeks to protect industrial land while improving pedestrian access, trail connections and transportation options. The city places special emphasis on breweries and distilleries as businesses that help connect industrial areas to surrounding communities.
For Robbins, the region’s success shows that anything is possible.
He pointed to recent safety improvements near Reuben and discussions about making the area easier to navigate on foot.
“We have a good chance,” he said.
He said Reuben Beer remains committed to Ballard despite the uncertainty surrounding light rail and the ongoing challenges facing the craft beer industry.
“We’re not moving,” Robbins said of his family and son, the company’s namesake. “We’re totally committed. Reuben was born in Ballard. He went to school in Ballard. We’re not going anywhere.”
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