By CLAYTON PARK

King County has agreed to pay $7.64 million to purchase a 3.9-acre portion of the 12.8-acre Northgate South Lot from Northgate Mall owner Simon Property Group.

The newly purchased property, which is located on the west side of the South Lot, will be used to create 500 new parking spaces for the county's existing Northgate Park and Ride lot, which is on the same block, just west of the Northgate Transit Center. The South Lot is located on the block immediately south of Northgate Mall.

The deal is expected to be completed in March.

What's not known at this time is whether the county's purchase will help or hinder community activists' efforts to get the section of Thornton Creek that currently flows in an underground culvert beneath the South Lot daylighted. Two groups, Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for a Liveable Northgate, have been waging a legal battle with Simon and the City to get the creek daylighted.

Ron Posthuma, an official with the county's Transportation Department, said the county has no plans to daylight Thornton Creek on its portion of the South Lot.

However, Posthuma didn't rule out the possibility of the county letting someone else pay for daylighting the creek on the property if it were to be done in conjunction with the construction of a shared parking garage with whomever else buys the remainder of the South Lot.

Just who that other buyer, or buyers, will turn out to be is the million dollar question, or more likely, the $16-plus million question, as Simon's previous asking price for the entire South Lot had been $25 million.

Security Properties, the Seattle-based housing developer that took out a six-month option last spring to purchase the entire South Lot only to let it expire last September, is still interested in striking a deal with Simon for the remainder of the property. Security Properties hesitated in buying the entire site outright last fall because of an inability to gain assurances to its satisfaction that its plans to build a mixed-use project that would include daylighting the creek wouldn't end up bogged down in court due to opposition for community activists.

TCLDF and CFLN did extend an olive branch to Security Properties just days before the option was set to expire, pledging to not seek litigation provided that the developer agree to build its project according to the designs the citizens groups drafted with technical assistance from the developer's own architects. Security Properties balked at that offer because the activists' proposed plan would have greatly reduced the number of housing units that would be built on the site, while increasing the amount of open space allotted as a buffer for the creek.

Other potential buyers of all or part of the remaining South Lot property include the Seattle Public Library, whose Library Board recently identified the South Lot as one of two finalist sites for its proposed new Northgate Branch Library. The other potential site for the library is the Bon Tire Center site along Fifth Avenue NE along with a commercial property located immediately north of the Bon Tire Center site.

A car dealer is also rumored to have been considering the South Lot site.

As far as the county's plans for its portion of the South Lot, Posthuma said its goal is to simply get the new additional parking spaces ready for public use as quickly as possible. The minor renovations include painting new parking stripes and installing lights. Commuters could be able to start using the new Park and Ride lot as soon as this summer.