NORTHGATE CENTER
Northeast Northgate Way and 5th Avenue Northeast
King County (Seattle), Washington
Seattle's NORTHGATE CENTER holds the distinction of being the world's first (quote-unquote) "shopping mall." When construction of the center began in the late 1940s, there were only a handful of regional-class, suburban shopping centers in the United States. Examples of these would include CRENSHAW CENTER {Los Angeles}, PARK FOREST PLAZA {outside of Chicago}, RIDGEWAY CENTER {Stamford, Connecticut} and TOWN & COUNTRY DRIVE-IN SHOPPING CENTER {outside of Columbus, Ohio}.
NORTHGATE CENTER was the first retail hub to be arranged around a lengthwise shopping concourse, with stores facing each other on either side. It was also the first mall-type facility to be anchored by a large department store branch.
Originally an open-air structure with a single retail level and service basement, NORTHGATE CENTER was designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The complex was developed by a joint venture of the Alstores Realty Corporation (a division of Allied Stores) and Seattle's Benjamin B. Ehrlichman and W. Walter Williams. It was located 7.5 miles north of center city Seattle, on a 62-acre tract in King County's unincorporated Maple Leaf community.
The grand opening of the mall's anchor department store, Seattle-based The Bon Marche ["mar-shay"], was held on April 21, 1950. Mrs. Winifred E. Hines (a veteran "The Bon" employee) cut a ceremonial ribbon. Mr. Rex Allison (President of Allied Stores) was also in attendance. In its original state, the store encompassed 3-levels and 200,000 square feet.
Seventeen businesses opened on July 25, 1950. These included a (20,000 square foot) IGA Foodliner and (5,000 square foot) Nordstrom's Shoes. A 3-level (34,500 square foot) J.J. Newberry 5 & 10 was dedicated on October 4, 1950, with a 3-level (30,600 square foot) F.W. Woolworth welcoming first shoppers in November. In the following year, a 4-level medical and dental clinic joined the directory.
NORTHGATE CENTER was the first shopping venue in the nation with a (quote-unquote) "mall movie house." The Sterling Entertainment Organization Northgate Theatre showed a first feature on September 28, 1951.
Mall stores were dedicated in groups of five or so, with much media fanfare. By 1952, all eighty-two spaces were leased. Charter tenants included Singer Sewing Center, Ernst Hardware, Hopper-Kelly Company music, Fahey-Brockman, Mode O'Day Frock Shop, Northgate Furniture Company, the Tik-Tok Snack Bar and a freestanding Firestone Car Care Center.
The mall site was annexed into the City of Seattle on August 20, 1952. In November, local sculptor Dudley C. Carter (1891-1992) completed work on a 59-foot-high totem pole. This was installed in the center of a duck pond on the north end of the complex. By November 1962, a "Sky Shield" roof had been installed over the mall concourse. Not a full-scale enclosure, it did provide some shelter from inclement weather.
As the SkyShield was going up, The Bon Marche was being enlarged. A 119,000 square foot addition was built on the store's east side. The Corner House coffee shop and Men's Grill cocktail lounge joined the existing Legend Room restaurant. When the renovation was completed, in August 1963, "The Bon" encompassed 319,000 square feet.
In 1965, the Interstate 5 expressway was completed to points north, with an interchange installed at NE Northgate Way (formerly NE 110 Street). The opening of the new freeway had spurred construction of a 10 million dollar mall addition and renovation. A 2-level (49,900 square foot) Best's Apparel began business on February 1, 1965. J.C. Penney's 2-level (168,000 square foot) store was dedicated on August 18th. In all, twenty-five stores were added to the mall, including a Clark's Big Top Coffee Shop & Restaurant and QFC (Quality Food Center) supermarket.
Best's Apparel store was rebranded, as a Nordstrom Best, on October 29, 1967. It became a full-fledged Nordstrom with a subsequent rebranding in December 1972. By this time, the store had been enlarged into a 3-level (122,200 square foot) structure.
An enclosing mall renovation was soon underway. The complex re-opened, as a climate-controlled venue, on December 4, 1974. Its official name was now NORTHGATE MALL. 2 years later, space in the northeast corner was gutted. A 3-level (84,600 square foot), Bellevue-based Lamonts opened for business on November 14, 1977. With these renovations, there were over 123 stores.
Major shopping centers were built in the NORTHGATE trade area over the ensuing years. AURORA VILLAGE MALL {4.6 miles north, in King County (Shoreline)} debuted in 1960. Two complexes were completed in 1979; ALDERWOOD MALL {8.6 miles northeast, in Snohomish County (Lynwood)} and EVERETT MALL {14.9 miles northeast, in Everett}.
In November 1986, Canada's Campeau Corporation acquired the holdings of the Allied Stores holding company. Included in the transaction were five shopping malls; NORTHSHORE CENTER {Massachusetts}, BERGEN MALL {New Jersey}, COLUMBIA CENTER, TACOMA MALL and NORTHGATE CENTER {Washington State}. In December 1986, a joint venture was formed by Canada's Campeau Corporation and Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation.
DeBartolo assumed management of the five shopping centers in 1987. After the DeBartolo Corporation merged with Indiana's Simon Property Group, in 1996, NORTHGATE CENTER became a Simon Property Group holding. They performed an indoor-outdoor remodeling between February and November 1997. During this project, new flooring and ceilings were installed. Mall entrances were rebuilt and a 10-bay food court added in the south end of the complex.
At the turn of the 21st century, major NORTHGATE stores were being rebranded. Lamonts morphed into a Fresno-based Gottschalks on August 31, 2000. This store closed in September 2006. The Bon Marche morphed into a Bon-Macy's, on August 1, 2003. The entire Bon-Macy's chain was Macy's-branded on March 6, 2005.
Northgate Theatre had operated under the Cineplex Odeon and Loews Cineplex banners before being shuttered, on February 20, 2002. In December 2005, the theater and adjacent medical clinic were razed. An open-air "Urban Village Streetscape" was constructed along the western facade of the mall. This 100,000 square foot addition included ten new stores and casual dining restaurants; these including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Panera Bread, Gene Juarez Salon & Spa and Ram Restaurant. A multilevel garage was also built in the southwest parking area.
The old Lamonts-Gottschalks was gutted and reconfigured as a DSW (lower level) and Bed, Bath & Beyond (upper level). This latest group of renovations increased the gross leasable area of NORTHGATE MALL to approximately 1,046,000 square feet. There were now over 130 tenant spaces.
Seattle's Sound Transit built a Link light rail extension to NORTHGATE MALL. Construction began on the 3.2 route mile Westlake-to-University of Washington line in 2012. It began revenue service in 2016. A 4.3 route mile University of Washington-to-Northgate extension opened on October 2, 2021.
Meanwhile, in 2018, the Simon Property Group announced plans to substantially reconfigure NORTHGATE MALL. Three existing department stores, and much of the mall, would be demolished, leaving sections of the "Urban Village Streetscape" and North and South Wings intact. Two existing parking structures were also left standing. J.C. Penney became the first anchor store to close. This transpired on May 3, 2019. Macy's went dark on July 21 of the same year, with Nordstrom being shuttered on August 9th.
NORTHGATE STATION, a new mixed-use facility, was created from remnants of the mall and new construction. The Kraken Community Iceplex, home venue for the Seattle Kraken National Hockey League franchise, was officially dedicated in September 2021. The 167-room Residence Inn by Marriott opened for business in the spring of 2025, with a 234-unit apartment complex being completed in 2026.
Sources:
The Seattle Times
The Catholic Northwest Progress (Seattle, Washington)
The Youngstown Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio)
Allied Stores Corporation Annual Reports 1949 and 1950
"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952 to 1965" / Richard Longstreth
http://www.historylink.org / Essay # 3186 / "Northgate Shopping Mall Opens On April 21, 1950" / David Wilma / 2001
Essay # 228 / "Northgate Beginnings: Jim Douglas Remembers" / Jim Douglas / 1999
http://www.northgateshoppingctr.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
https://kingcounty.gov / King County, Washington
https://www.marriott.com
https://seattle.urbanize.city
https://www.seattlepi.com / Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Link light rail" article on Wikipedia
