Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 4, April 2003

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Northgate Mall to get new look

By MATTHEW PREUSCH

If the City Council passes the development agreement between the City and Northgate Mall's owners, Simon Property Group, the Indianapolis-based company said it will begin a large expansion of the mall along its west side.

It would be the nearly 53-year-old mall's first major renovation since the 1970s. It underwent a minor $18 million facelift in 1998.

The cornerstone of the proposed mall development is the demolition of the former Northgate Theater and vacant Northgate Medical Building on the mall's northwest corner. They would be replaced with a 30,000-square-foot "junior anchor" retail outlet, such as a bookstore like Barnes & Noble or Borders, according to Simon planner Gary Weber.

Five other new shops or restaurant, all between 9,000 and 18,000 square feet, would be tacked on the western side of the mall. A restaurant will appear in the where currently there are parking spaces in the mall's northwest corner, and another shop or restaurant will go in the southeast corner of the parking lot.

Also, Nordstrom will add a 40,000-square-foot addition.

Altogether, that's about 144,000 square feet of new development, but Simon has the option to build up to 165,000 square feet. In addition, Simon is free to build an 800-stall parking garage on the mall's north parking lot.

The goal of all this new construction, according to Northgate Mall general manager Sam Stalin, is to make the shopping center a more approachable environment for shoppers, something closer to more modern "plazas" like University Village, an outdoor shopping center east of the University of Washington.

"It's going to be very user friendly, very pedestrian friendly," he said.

Stalin said he expects to have "no problem" finding tenants for the new space.