NORTHTOWN CENTER
North Division Street / US 2 and 395 and East Wellesley Avenue
Spokane, Washington
Eastern Washington's first regional shopping center was built on a 34.4-acre city block, located 3 miles north of downtown Spokane. NORTHTOWN CENTER was developed by Boise's Joe A. Albertson. Its first store, a (30,000 square foot) Albertson's Food Center, opened on March 15, 1951.
A strip center of sixteen stores was built north of Albertson's. Its first operational tenants, a Thrifty Drugs and Densow's Hardware & Electric, welcomed first shoppers on December 9, 1954. The completed strip plaza included Bell Northtown Furniture, Rusan's for Ladies, W.T. Grant, Everybody's Department Store, Harvey's Fine Clothing for Men & Boys and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
In May 1960, a large-scale expansion of NORTHTOWN CENTER was announced, which would add four store block structures and reconfigure the shopping facility as an open-air mall. Construction was underway by mid-1960. A 1-level (123,000 square foot) Sears opened for business on June 21, 1961. Albertson's built a new store on the east wall of their original location. The new supermarket began business on October 19, 1961. PayLess Drug set up shop in the original supermarket space.
On March 29, 1962, new sections of NORTHTOWN CENTER were officially dedicated. Stores included Thom McAn Shoes, Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, The Klothes Kloset, Zale's Jewelers, Bernard's for Ladies and the Hole 'N One Donut Shop. Meanwhile, the northern section of the 1954 strip center, housing W.T. Grant, had been demolished. Grants moved into a (50,000 square foot) store in the new section of the shopping hub. A 3-level (91,000 square foot), Spokane-based The Crescent was built on the site of the original Grants. The Crescent was officially dedicated on September 6, 1962.
When all construction dust had settled, NORTHTOWN CENTER encompassed approximately 650,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty-nine stores and services. Grants was shuttered in 1976. Its area was sectioned into an enclosed "Mini-Mall," which opened in December of the same year. Stores included Mrs. K's Florsheim Shoes and Lyon's Apparel.
Work commenced on the full enclosure of the shopping complex on May 23, 1983. Metal canopies were removed from stores. New climate-controlled concourses were fitted with tile floors and skylights. The renewed retail hub, containing sixty-two stores and services, was dedicated in October 1983. It would be known, henceforth, as NORTHTOWN MALL.
By February 1989, Seattle's David Sabey had acquired the shopping center. Another major renovation was announced. This would add a second retail level, with ninety-six tenant spaces, and build four anchor stores. Two parking garages would also be constructed on the east side of the mall. The first phase of the project relocated Sears into a 2-level (160,400 square foot) store. This opened for business on October 1, 1989.
The old Sears was demolished to make way for three new anchors. A 2-level (140,800 square foot) J.C. Penney was dedicated on August 7, 1991. A 2-level (81,900 square foot) Mervyn's began business on October 16, 1991. A 2-level (68,700 square foot), Eugene, Oregon-based Troutman's Emporium ("The Emporium") opened its doors on October 17th. NORTHTOWN MALL now housed approximately 943,100 leasable square feet, with a tenant list of 158 retailers.
Competing regional-class shopping hubs in Greater Spokane included UNIVERSITY CITY MALL (1969) {7.2 miles southeast, in Spokane County / City of Spokane Valley} and SPOKANE VALLEY MALL (1997) {9.3 miles southeast, also in Spokane County / City of Spokane Valley}.
The first anchor rebranding at NORTHTOWN MALL transpired August 1, 1988, when The Crescent was rebranded as a Seattle-based Frederick & Nelson. This store was shuttered in early 1992. A deal was negotiated, with Fresno-based Gottschalks, to take over the vacant store. This fell through, as did a deal with Bellevue-based Lamonts. Eventually, Seattle-based The Bon Marche bought the building. They opened their NORTHTOWN store on July 28, 1993.
Salt Lake City-based JP Realty acquired NORTHTOWN MALL in August 1998. In July 1999, a 54 million dollar southeastern expansion got underway. This enlargement of the mall would cover space once occupied by the Albertsons-PayLess Drug structure, which had been demolished in the late 1980s.
Two junior anchors were built; a 1-level (26,500 square foot) Barnes & Noble and 1-level (26,300 square foot) Nordstrom Rack. These began business in September 2000. The Regal Northtown 12 multiplex, which occupied an upper level, showed first features on September 29, 2000. An adjacent parking garage had also been constructed.
The addition increased the gross leasable area of NORTHTOWN MALL to approximately 1,046,000 square feet. Its directory now listed 175 stores and services. Chicago's General Growth Properties acquired the assets of JP Realty in March 2002. As part of the transaction, NORTHTOWN MALL was added to the GGP property portfolio.
On August 1, 2003, stores in The Bon Marche chain were co-branded as Bon-Macy's. All received Macy's nameplates on March 6, 2005. In February 2007, the NORTHTOWN MALL Mervyn's closed. It was renovated and re-opened, as a Wisconsin-based Kohl's, October 3, 2007. Nordstrom Rack closed its NORTHTOWN store October 19, 2010. The space was renovated and opened, as a Framingham, Massachusetts-based Marshalls, March 8, 2012.
Troutman's Emporium had been sitting vacant since February 2003. Steve & Barry's University Sportswear moved in and held a grand opening in November 2006. This store went dark in December 2008. Calgary, Alberta's Wholesale Sports leased the lower level of the building and opened for business on July 20, 2012. This store was short-lived. It was replaced by the Get Air Trampoline Park in late 2014.
A renovation of the mall's northern (Queen Avenue) facade got underway in August 2014. 120,000 square feet of inline store space was demolished, with 63,000 square feet rebuilt as an exterior-entranced Streetscape of casual dining restaurants. Two "grand" mall entrances were also installed. Buffalo Wild Wings became the first operational Streetscape restaurant in June 2015. It was joined by Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill in February 2016. As the new Streetscape was being created, the interior of the shopping complex was given a face lift.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, NORTHTOWN MALL became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio. Brookfield flipped the shopping hub in February 2022, with Great Neck, New York's Kohan Retail Investment Group became its new proprietor.
Kohan, in turn, flipped the property again. It was sold to Summit Properties USA. This entity is a subsidiary of Summit Properties, Limited, whose corporate headquarters is located on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, France. Although a "British Crown dependency," Guernsey is not part of the United Kingdom. Details are sketchy, but it appears that NORTHTOWN MALL changed hands sometime in 2023.
Sources:
The Spokesman Revue (Spokane, Washington)
The Seattle Business News
https://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
Spokane County, Washington tax assessor website
https://www.northtownmall.com
https://www.summit-properties.com
https://www.kohanretail.com
"Northtown Mall (Spokane) and "Guernsey" articles on Wikipedia
