Northgate Mall (Seattle)


Northgate Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in northern Seattle, Washington, United States. It is anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW, and Nordstrom Rack. The mall is located in the Northgate neighborhood on Interstate 5, adjacent to Northgate Way and the Northgate Transit Center.
Northgate opened in 1950 as one of the first modern shopping centers to be built in the post-war United States. The mall was developed by Allied Stores and was initially an open-air facility until renovations in the 1970s.

History

An open-air retail hub in the northern environs of Seattle, Northgate Mall was one of the first post-war, suburban mall-type shopping centers in the United States. It was originally known as Northgate Center, named for its location at the north edge of Seattle. It began business with 18 stores in April 1950, anchored by The Bon Marché. By 1952, the fully leased structure housed over seventy tenants, with an adjoined 4-story Northgate Building medical/dental center and Northgate Theatre, which seated over 1300 patrons.
Northgate was the first of three Puget Sound-area malls developed by Allied Stores 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. 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, and was the first mall to have public restrooms.
In 1952, Redmond sculptor Dudley C. Carter designed and carved the cedar totem pole that decorated the grand entrance to the central retail corridor, known as the "Miracle Mall". The shopping center was originally anchored by The Bon Marché. There were also a J.J. Newberry 5 and 10, Butler Brothers variety store and an A & P Supermarket.
Other tenants signing on early that still exist were National Bank of Commerce and locally owned Nordstrom's Shoes. This was expanded into a full line clothing store in 1965. Opened as a Best's Apparel, a division of the Nordstrom Company since 1963, it was rebranded as Nordstrom Best in 1967 and Nordstrom in 1973. The 1965 expansion that added the Best's Apparel store also included an extension of the south end of the complex. This was anchored by a new JCPenney and QFC grocery.
The "Miracle Mall" concourse had been partially enclosed with a "SkyShield" structure in 1962. This was replaced in 1973-1974, with the mall corridor being fully enclosed. The official name of the shopping complex was changed to Northgate Mall at this time. Seattle-based Lamonts added a store to the northern end of the concourse in 1977.
With another renovation to the mall 20 years later in 1997, Toys "R" Us opened its doors in October 30. The food court was also renovated. Two new stores, Sam Goody and Foot Locker also opened. The new interior was also completed in 1998.
After the acquisition 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 the home to DSW and Bed, Bath and Beyond. In January 2012, Toys "R" Us closed which coincided with the end of its lease. A year later in 2013, Nordstrom Rack opened up in the space formerly occupied by Toys "R" Us.
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. By 1980, there were 123 stores at Northgate Mall. Construction began in the summer of 2006 on a lifestyle-type addition to the mall. This was completed in early 2008. Anchor stores are Nordstrom Rack, DSW, and Bed Bath and Beyond.
On October 8, 2018, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing in 2019. Macy's subsequently announced in January 2019 that it would also close its store in 2020, but moved its closure up to July 2019, allegedly at the request of Simon Property Group. Nordstrom closed its Northgate store on August 9, 2019, though the Nordstrom Rack will remain open. Approximately 40 stores and restaurants at Northgate will remain open through the redevelopment project.

Anchor stores

Current

In 1973, the serial-killer Ted Bundy reportedly apprehended a purse-snatcher late at night in the Northgate Mall parking lot, a few weeks before his first documented murder. Many of his subsequent victims were approached in parking lots.
On September 12, 1983, Tracy Ann Winston was abducted from Northgate Mall and murdered by Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer.
The following year, on April 23, 1984, a seven-man force of The Order attacked an armored car at the mall, after first staging a diversionary bombing.

Redevelopment

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 included a new outdoor "urban-village" on the western end of the mall facing Interstate 5. This village opened in November 2007.
A new five level parking garage at the south end of the mall provides parking for mall users and additional transit parking. The totem pole at the north entrance of the mall was removed in September 2007. Around the same time, the original Northgate Theatre and 4-story Northgate Building were demolished to make space for new tenants.
In 2018, Simon Property Group announced their intention to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use center with hotels, housing, offices and the headquarters and practice facility for the upcoming Seattle Kraken in addition to retail space. The redevelopment will replace several parking lots and be completed after the opening of a nearby light rail station in 2021. Ground was broken on headquarters and practice facility dubbed the Northgate Ice Centre in February, 2020.

Location

The mall is bounded on the north by NE Northgate Way, 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. 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 growth such as the opportunities and impacts of transit facilities and the light rail station for the district.