Loyal Heights Neighbors Want to Own the Corner at 24th and 80th. Here's Where That Stands.

In late August 2025, the building that houses Larsen's Danish Bakery sold for $4.6 million. Brenda Gage and her husband bought both the bakery and its building at 8000 24th Ave NW from original owner Poul Larsen. The new owner said she would keep the Larsen's name and hoped to continue the leases of the other businesses in the building. In an interview with My Ballard, Gage called the building's other tenants, the fish shop and the butcher shop, "absolutely dreamy co-tenants."

That sale shows how the intersection of NW 80th St and 24th Ave NW works. The land can change hands for millions of dollars without the corner changing at all, as long as the buyer wants it to stay the same. Now a larger piece of the same intersection is for sale, and a group of neighbors is trying to be the buyer. A year after the Larsen's sale, they have collected millions in pledges and have not yet formed the legal entity needed to use them.

What's on the corner today

Organizer Jed Sundwall calls this intersection "Downtown Loyal Heights." On the project's website, dtlh.org, he lists what you can see from it: a bakery, a fish shop, a butcher, a convenience store, a dance and music studio, several preschools, medical offices, and restaurants. Here are the businesses by name:

Eater Seattle's Ballard guide, updated in July 2026, still includes Cafe Munir. It credits owner Rajah Gargour with cooking modern versions of the food he grew up with, and it singles out the spicy Aleppo cauliflower and the hummus with spiced lamb. Every business on this list is independent. The intersection gets its character from small owners and long tenancies, and none of that is protected by zoning.

The southeast corner, and what its zoning already allows

The property for sale is on the southeast corner, directly south of Larsen's and Beast & Cleaver. When My Ballard first reported on it in May, the site was two parcels holding an apartment complex and a parking lot, listed for $8.8 million as a redevelopment site. The seller is a church. By late August, My Ballard reported that the church had added the neighboring Loyal Automotive parcel to the listing, which means a buyer would have to acquire more land. The DTLH site now gives the asking price as $9.5 million.

Current zoning on the corner allows mixed-use buildings up to 55 feet. No rezone is needed for something much larger than what stands there today, so any buyer can already build at that scale. The open question is who the buyer will be and what they choose to build. The DTLH concept page puts the two outcomes plainly. Done well, the site becomes "ground-floor neighborhood retail with a few apartments above." Done poorly, it becomes "another generic anywhere-building with vacant storefronts."

This is the same pattern we described a few blocks east in Whittier Heights. The rules already allow more than the neighborhood has built. What happens next depends on who owns the land and what it costs to build.

How the pledges added up

Sundwall has lived in Loyal Heights for 12 years. He posted the idea as a Google Doc in neighborhood text groups as soon as he learned the lot was for sale. His plan is for a community-owned entity to buy the parcels, build something the neighborhood wants, and keep the property as a long-term neighborhood asset. Equity holders would share in appreciation and rental income and would help decide what gets built. The pledges came in quickly:

1. Early May 2026. Sundwall shares the concept. The owner has not been contacted, no entity exists, and no money is being accepted.
2. May 11. More than $1.5 million in non-binding pledges from 27 people.
3. June 4. City Cast Seattle interviews Sundwall about buying a building for the community.
4. July. About 30 people meet at the Ballard Elks Lodge and decide the first step is forming a nonprofit.
5. Aug. 28. My Ballard reports $2.7 million pledged by 96 people.

The counter on the DTLH site now shows 105 pledgers and $2.82 million. All of these pledges are non-binding. They tell organizers how much people might invest, and no money has been collected. Some of the pledgers own businesses nearby. Sundwall named the owners of Mailbox Ballard, Saleh's, Cafe Munir, and Mox Boarding House.

The size of the pledges shows the gap between what neighbors have offered and what the purchase would require. The original plan called for about five "anchor investors" putting in roughly $1 million each to buy the site and carry it through design, permitting, and construction. Smaller neighborhood investors would come in during a second phase. On the DTLH counter, the median pledge is $10,000. Fifty-one of the 105 pledges fall between $10,000 and $25,000, and one is above $500,000. Most of the money so far looks like what the plan expected in phase two, while the phase-one anchors are mostly missing. The total is under a third of the $9.5 million asking price on the DTLH site.

Sundwall has been open about how hard this is. He told My Ballard in May:

"Governing is hard, and what I'm proposing is real estate development on hard mode. But I think it's worth attempting."

The model he points to is on Phinney Ridge, where Ben's Bread, Holy Mountain Brewing, and Lioness share one block.

What has to exist before an offer can

As of My Ballard's Aug. 28 report, the group had found three board members, the minimum the state requires to register a nonprofit, and was looking for more. It was also looking for an executive director, a role that would start unpaid. Lawyers had volunteered to help, but the group still needed attorneys with real estate experience. After the nonprofit is set up, it still has to create a way to accept money from residents who want to invest. The DTLH site describes the project as being at the concept stage. Its author is in contact with the seller but does not yet have a credible offer to make. No sale or pending contract on the southeast corner had been reported in local news as of the late-summer coverage.

In August, Sundwall said he was considering a neighborhood fundraiser during the holiday season. No date has been announced, and that fundraiser would likely be the next public step.

The city's gathering place runs on a different calendar

The neighborhood's other major gathering space, the Loyal Heights Community Center at 2101 NW 77th St, has a public owner and a published schedule. Mayor Katie Wilson's proposed 2027–2028 budget includes funding for the center's $30.6 million renovation. The plan covers upgrades to the aging building, new electric mechanical systems, accessibility improvements, and remodeled programming rooms. According to My Ballard, design runs through winter 2027, with construction planned from summer 2027 through winter 2028. When we covered the center's summer upgrades in August, the major construction was still ahead, and it still is.

That funding is still a proposal. The City Council's second budget public hearing is on Thursday, Nov. 5, and final adoption is expected Nov. 20. The center's fall drop-in schedule continues while that happens: all-ages basketball, adult pickleball, 16+ dodgeball, a fitness room, a teen room, and Tot Gym for toddlers.

Where a neighbor can plug in

The DTLH site lists ways to take part that cost nothing:

• Fill out the interest form to get updates or record a pledge.
• Use the places form to describe a place you love anywhere and what makes it work.
• Email [email protected] to volunteer for the board or the executive director role, to help with a fundraiser, or to offer legal help.
• Request a yard sign or print one of the flyers designed by Lindsey DeVries.

This post reports on a proposed investment structure and is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Anyone considering putting money into a project like this should talk with their own attorney or financial advisor.

The Larsen's sale showed how much one buyer's choices can decide about this intersection. If you own a home near 24th and 80th and want to know how changes on the corner could affect your property, Theodora Cornelia Homes can give you a clear read on your home's current value. Request a Free Home Valuation.