Report: Northgate Mall to be ‘re-imagined’ with offices, hotel, housing

Owners will redevelop Seattle’s Northgate Mall, potentially turning half of its retail space over to new offices.

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The Seattle Times reports that Northgate’s owner is “re-imagining” the property where the mall sits. That owner, Simon Property Group, aims to cut into the mall’s 1 million square feet of retail space with 500,000 to 750,000 square feet of office space.

The owner is tight-lipped about details, but did tell the Times the new offices will add an estimated 2,500 to 3,700 workers to the area. It wants to create an alternative to expensive office rates found elsewhere in the Seattle region.

The company also plans for a new hotel in the mall area, as well as several hundred units of housing.

The redevelopment puts Northgate among a range of American malls that have turned retail space into hotels and housing. Malls across the nation have experienced declining traffic in recent years, prompting them to explore other uses for their properties. Many blame online shopping for the lack of foot traffic to brick-and-mortar shops.

Northgate Mall plans

The project won’t happen anytime soon because the process of planning with the city can take up to 18 months, the Times notes. The nearby light rail station continues to be built in the meantime. The neighborhood is planning for the station’s opening with new affordable housing units.

Northgate Mall is a single-level shopping center that first opened in 1950 with 18 stores. It recently added multiple levels of parking to accommodate more traffic to the mall.

Construction began on the new light rail station in 2017. It will open in 2021.

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