NORTHGATE MALL (SEATTLE)

'Northgate Mall' is a shopping mall in the Northgate district of north urban Seattle, Washington. It is currently anchored by JCPenney, Macy's and Nordstrom.

Contents

History

Expansion

Anchors

Coming Soon between now and November 2007

Now Open

Former Tenants

Location

Express bus

See also

References

External links

History

Northgate Mall opened with eighteen stores to instant success in 1950.^[1]Wilma (2005) Northgate was the first of three Puget Sound-area malls developed by Allied Stores (parent company of The Bon Marché) and designed by Seattle architect John Graham, Jr. The development was built over part of Thornton Creek, on land that had been a cranberry bog in Maple Leaf neighborhood.

"Maple Leaf" "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.
^[2] Northgate was the first regional shopping center in the United States to be described as a mall, in this instance a double row of stores facing each other across a covered pedestrian walkway.
In 1952, Redmond sculptor Dudley C. Carter designed and carved the 59-foot cedar totem pole that decorates the grand entrance to the mall. The mall was originally anchored by The Bon Marché (renamed Macy's 2005).
Other tenants signing on early that still exist were National Bank of Commerce (bought by Norwest, renamed Wells Fargo), locally-owned Nordstrom shoes (which opened a full-fledged anchor store in 1965), and later JCPenney and Lamonts. After the aquisition of the Lamonts department store chain by Gottschalks in 2000, Gottschalks was located at Northgate Mall until September 2006. It closed after six years due to underperforming sales, and the former location is currently under construction to become a Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
Capitalizing on Northgate's success, Allied Stores commissioned Graham to design the fully enclosed Tacoma Mall, which opened in 1964, and Tukwila's Southcenter Mall in 1968. Northgate was enclosed in 1974. By 1980, there were 123 stores. Construction began summer 2006 on a 100,000 square foot addition to the mall and is scheduled to be completed in 2008. Anchor stores are Nordstrom, Macy's, and J.C. Penney.^[3]

Expansion

In 2006, Simon Properties embarked on an expansion of Northgate Mall in part because of the city's plan for revitalizing the Northgate neighborhood. The expansion plans include a new "urban-village" at the western end of the mall, a parking garage at the south end of the mall (joint-usage as mall parking and transit parking), new anchor stores, and renovation of the existing mall.

Anchors

★ Macy's (319,000 ft²)

★ J.C. Penney (168,800 ft²)

★ Nordstrom (122,187 ft²)

Coming Soon between now and November 2007

★ Bed Bath and Beyond

★ Blue Fin Sushi and Seafood Buffet

★ DSW, Inc.

★ Icing

★ Romano's Macaroni Grill

★ Starbucks Coffee

★ Subway

★ Ulta

★ Chipotle Mexican Grill

★ Verizon Wireless

Now Open

★ Stanford's Restaurant and Bar (Opened August 7th)

★ Panera Bread (Opened August 20th)

★ The Ram Restaurant (Opened September 2nd)

★ Barnes and Nobles (Opened September 5th)

Former Tenants

★ Gottschalks

★ Lamonts

Location

The mall is bounded on the north by NE Northgate Way (formerly NE 110th Street), on the west by 1st Avenue NE, on the south by NE 103rd Street, and on the east by 5th Avenue NE. The Northgate informal district and Northgate Way were both named after the mall.^[4] The original mall has itself become the anchor for development of surrounding apartment buildings, retail and light commercial blocks, and community spaces, all now part of a more comprehensive plan for such as the opportunities and impacts of transit facilities and the light rail station for the district.^[5]

Express bus

The first express bus service in Washington State was launched with service between Northgate and Downtown (1970). The "Blue Streak" served as a model for dozens of additional park-and-ride routes implemented by Metro Transit over western King County and linking with Snohomish and Pierce counties.^[6]

See also

★ Neighborhood and watershed

★
★ Maple Leaf neighborhood

★
★ Northgate district of neighborhoods

★
★ Thornton Creek

★ Competing nearby retail areas

★
★ Downtown Lake City

★
★ The Ave in the University District

★
★ University Village shopping center

References

Wilma referenced Walt Crowley with Paul Dorpat (Photography Editor), ''National Trust Guide: Seattle'' (New York: John Wiley & Son, Inc., 1998), 209;
HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Northgate Beginnings" (by Jim Douglas), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 2001);
L. B. Fussell, "Section To Be Known As 'Northgate'", ''The Seattle Times'', February 22, 1948;
"Features Of Northgate Shopping Area Outlined", Ibid., February 1, 1950; "Polar Bear Cubs And $35,000 Car Vie At Northgate", Ibid., May 23, 1950;
"Plenty of Parking Space At Northgate", Ibid., May 7, 1950;
"Carter To Carve Totem Pole For Northgate", Ibid., February 26, 1952;
"Northgate Stores Fete Completion Of 5-Acre Area", Ibid., February 15, 1952;
"Car Show Planned On Northgate Mall", Ibid., April 30, 1953;
"25 New Stores Opening At Northgate", Ibid., August 17, 1965;
"Did You Know?" Ibid., March 18, 1965;
"Northgate's Vast Parking Areas Can Accommodate Up To 50,000 Cars A Day", Ibid., March 21, 1968;
"Eighteen Stores Pioneered Merchandising History At Northgate", Ibid., April 9, 1975;
"Northgate An Instant Success", Ibid., April 9, 1975;
"Northgate Center Will Celebrate 30th Anniversary Next Month", Ibid., March 13, 1980;
"Simoninfo", Simon Properties Website (www.simon.com);
Steve Schoenherr (University of San Diego), "Evolution of the Shopping Center", Steve Schoenherr Home Page accessed on November 4, 2004 (http://home.sandiego.edu/~ses/).

★ "Seattle Neighborhoods: Maple Leaf -- Thumbnail History"
From Mimi Sheridan and Carol Tobin, ''Licton Springs History'',(Seattle: Licton Springs Community Council, 2001), 8;
Don Sherwood, "Sacajawea P.F.", in "Interpretive Essays of the Histories of Seattle's Parks and Playfields", handwritten bound manuscript dated 1977, Seattle Room, Seattle Public Library.

External links

★ Northgate Shopping Center — official Simon Properties' web site

★ History of Shopping Centers