My name is Bob Fleming, and I am very interested in seeing development of Northgate Mall and the surrounding area in Seattle. In the last couple of years various groups and agencies have a great deal of planning, and much of the work is now in progress or should get under way in the next few months.

Northgate Mall is historic in that it was the first shopping center built around the concept of a stand-alone group of stores surrounded by a large parking lot, oriented toward people driving to the location.

Over the years, Northgate Mall has been remodeled and new stores added, a roof was put over the central pedestrian mall, and there have been other improvements. However, in recent years the mall has deteriorated somewhat, particularly in the northwestern part where there are vacant buildings and structures that look rather shabby.

But now the owners of the mall, Simon Property Group, Inc., are in the midst of major renovations and expansion of the mall, beginning with the late 2005 demolition of those shabby structures I just mentioned. The old Northgate Theatre and former Northgate Hospital are now gone. A new Barnes and Noble and other stores are being built. A new multi-level parking garage in the southwest part of the mall has been completed, providing parking for both mall-goers and the Northgate Transit Center across the street to the south.

Another factor is that a small creek, Thornton Creek, crosses the south end of the property, and many years ago the creek was confined to a culvert and buried under the parking lot of the mall. Now plans have been approved for a development that will “daylight” a portion of the creek and build mixed-use buildings alongside of it. Construction is now under way on that project.

Other plans included a new park, library, and community center complex that was opened to the public on Jul;y 15th of this year.

You can check the links on the left for more information about various projects and plans in the Northgate area.