By CLAYTON PARK

Everyone it seems is waiting to hear what Simon says regarding the potential fate of a 12.8-acre parking lot property located directly south of Northgate Mall.

That's Simon as in the mall's Indianapolis-based owner, Simon Property Group.

The decision Simon is expected to make soon is whether it will grant a Seattle-based housing developer's request for an extension on its lapsed option to purchase the Northgate South Lot. Security Properties let its six-month option on the site expire in September rather than meet Simon's undisclosed asking price for the South Lot, which is widely thought to be in excess of $20 million. Instead, Security Properties asked Simon for more time to continue negotiations with several Northgate area community activist groups, including the Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund (TCLDF) and Citizens for a Liveable Northgate (CFLN).

For nearly three years, TCLDF and CFLN have been waging a legal battle against Simon and the City to block Simon's original plans to redevelop the South Lot where the mall owner had proposed building a massive entertainment/retail complex that would have been anchored by a multi-screen movie theater. TCLDF and CFLN opposed Simon's project in large part because it did not include a provision for daylighting a stretch of Thornton Creek that currently flows beneath the South Lot in an underground culvert.

Simon put the South Lot up for sale last year after a judge ruled that Thornton Creek did in fact continue to exist on the property despite its claims to the contrary.

Security Properties entered the scene this past spring with its own proposal, which would include a 1,000-unit housing complex, with parking that could be shared with the county, which has long wanted to expand its Metro Transit park-and-ride lot located just west of the South Lot by an additional 500 parking spaces.

Perhaps most importantly, in the eyes of the citizens groups that had been opposing Simon's South Lot plans, Security Properties' proposal included room for a daylighted Thornton Creek - as long as it didn't have to pay for doing the actual daylighting itself.

Security Properties also wanted assurances from the citizens groups that they wouldn't sue to block the project like Simon's project had.

With the clock ticking regarding Security Properties' option, TCLDF and CFLN countered with a proposal of their own in early September: they would agree not to litigate, but only if Security Properties would agree to use a design that the citizens groups had come up with that called for approximately one-third fewer housing units and more space for an open space buffer.

Deputy Mayor Tom Byers, at that point, also indicated that the City, which is in the midst of a budget crunch due to the slowing economy, is in no position to foot the estimated $15 million needed to daylight Thornton Creek.

Marasco told the Jet City Maven in an interview in mid-November that given TCLDF and CFLN's stance and the City's current financial situation, "we're still a long ways apart" in terms of being able to reach an agreement that would allow Security Properties to proceed with purchasing the South Lot.

And with its option having now expired, it's not certain whether Simon would accept Security Property's offer regardless. Marasco acknowledged that Simon could possibly decide to either revive its own plans for the South Lot in hopes that the economy will have recovered by the time it gets ready to build in 18-24 months, or to divide the property into smaller parcels and sell them off piecemeal to other developers.

Marasco said his company remains hopeful that Simon will grant its request to have its option extended. "We'd love to stay involved, but really it's the seller's (Simon) decision. I think we're going to know in the next couple of weeks. They're not going to drag this out forever."

Security Properties and the Northgate area citizens groups aren't the only ones anxiously awaiting Simon's decision. Ron Posthuma, assistant director for the county's department of transportation, said the county is concerned about what will happen to the South Lot because of the potential impacts on bus schedules at its Northgate Transit Center, which is currently located on the same block, sandwiched between the park-and-ride lot and the mall's South Lot. He added that the county has badly wanted to expand the Northgate park-and-ride lot next to the transit center for the past three years because it's the most over-used one in the county.

"Our main concern," said Posthuma, "is that the property not get sold to a developer who might not be open to sharing parking." (