Ballard's old library, now home to Abraxus Books, is safe from the demolition axe - at least for now.

Pryde Johnson Developments own the building at 5711 24th Avenue Northwest. It's sat empty for the last two years until the bookstore moved in March 1 from a warehouse on Seaview Avenue.

The developers had planned to build a mixed use, retail-residential building there with about 94 units and 120 below grade parking stalls. A design review meeting was held last spring, but the project was put on hold while other developments in the neighborhood are underway, including Pryde Johnson's own Hjarta Condominiums on Northwest Market Street.

Curt Pryde of Pryde Johnson said the timing isn't right. The plan is to wait for QFC to finish it's planned two-year redevelopment that will add six stories of residential units above the grocery store directly across the street from the old library site.

Pryde said it's likely he'll make a move toward developing the library site within the next three years.

Representatives from Security Properties, the company developing the QFC site, said they plan to release a construction timeline for the project in the next few weeks. Its March start date was pushed back due to delays obtaining city permits and negotiations with contractors.

These are just a few of more than a dozen major mixed-use developments in and around downtown Ballard, bringing more than 2,000 new homes to the neighborhood.

For some, it's spelling the end of a sleepy and comfortable neighborhood.

Ted Pederson lives just east of 15th Avenue Northwest in a senior housing complex on Market Street. Lately, the redevelopment of Ballard has become a part of his everyday life as two condominium developments are going up next door.

"It seems like overkill," Pederson said. "These buildings are too big."

He shudders to think what traffic will be like at 15th and Market in the coming years, especially with a new Safeway discount gas station and a drive-thru Rite Aid planned for that intersection.

"If all these people move here, I don't know where they are gong to park," Pederson said. "Nobody's really looked into it and planned for what the impact is going to be. It's not going to be the same nice neighborhood - it's going to look like downtown."

But it's not just Ballard where construction cranes seem to be hovering from every street corner. Almost every neighborhood in Seattle is experiencing this type of growth, said Barry Hawley, a broker with Hawley Realty in Ballard.

"It's changed - big time," he said. "It's mind boggling. It's like a perfect storm."

A perfect storm because Hawley predicts about 1,000 new units here to be filled in the next nine months.

"And we won't know the effect of that until they all start moving around Ballard," he said.

Thelma Hoveland, 86, is sad to see Ballard changing so drastically. In fact, she said, "All the condos are ruining Ballard."

"It's changing things," said Hoveland, whose family moved to Ballard in 1924.

Retail and commercial business is also doing well here. The market is hot, Hawley said, as people are gearing up for an influx of new residents and visitors. Two hotels are planned for the area.

Hawley said he understands why some are uneasy that Ballard's "slumbering existence" has been disturbed. It's partly because people feel like it's out of their control and "they don't know where it's going to end."

"It's a tremendous shock to people that have lived here for so long to see all this construction going on," said Hawley, who's lived in Ballard all his life. "But I've never seen Ballard so vibrant with young people. I think it's good - it's just different."

In the meantime, Abraxus has set up shop, thankful to find space in a neighborhood where it's getting harder to come by, said Tony Topalian, owner of the bookstore.

Topalian has invested in a large seletion of Seattle maritime history and liberal arts. Its grown from an Internet-only business to a full fledged retail shop. There are pricier, rare books, but also a wide selection of new and used.

"We want to create a destination bookstore where people feel comfortable and not have their pockets pinched," said Topalian. "This need to generate a huge payday on a book - I just don't agree with that."

Shelves from the old library were still there when Abraxus moved in. A majority of sales are done online from roughly one million titles, and Topalian said the store is starting to pick up business.

Topalian hopes to stay in the building for the next several years, though he knows the developers may have other plans for the site.

"Ideally we'd like a longterm play here," Topalian said. "We came to this property to sell books and that's what we are going to do."

Look for live music at Abraxus during the Ballard ArtWalk and author readings to start there this fall. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m. 6 p.m. Sundays, http://www.abraxusbooks.com/.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com