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 primary anchor, Seattle-based The Bon Marche ["mar-shay"], was held April 21, 1950. Mrs. Winifred E. Hines (a veteran Bon Marche employee) cut a ceremonial ribbon. Mr. Rex Allison (President of Allied Stores) was also in attendance. "The Bon" encompassed 3-levels and 200,000 square feet.
Seventeen other businesses opened on July 25, 1950, including 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 was the first shopping venue in the nation with a (quote-unquote) "mall movie house." The Sterling Entertainment Organization Northgate Theatre showed its first feature on September 28, 1951. NORTHGATE 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. This was not a full-scale enclosure, but it did provide some shelter from inclement weather.
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 facility, including a Clark's Big Top Coffee Shop & Restaurant and QFC (Quality Food Center) supermarket.
On October 29, 1967, the Best's store was rebranded as a Nordstrom Best. 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.
NORTHGATE re-opened, as a fully-enclosed and climate-controlled complex, on December 4, 1974. Soon after, a portion of the northeast section of the mall was gutted. A 3-level (84,600 square foot), Bellevue-based Lamonts opened for business on November 14, 1977. With these renovations, the mall housed over 123 stores.
The first commercial competitor of NORTHGATE had been completed in 1960. AURORA VILLAGE MALL {4.6 miles north, in King County (Shoreline)} was followed by ALDERWOOD MALL {8.6 miles northeast, in Snohomish County (Lynwood)} and EVERETT MALL {14.9 miles northeast, in Everett}. Both of these centers opened in 1979.
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. Done between February and November 1997, the project installed new flooring, ceilings and a 10-bay Food Court. Mall entrances were also rebuilt.
At the turn of the 20th century, several major stores were being rebranded. Lamonts morphed into a Fresno-based Gottschalks on August 31, 2000. This store closed in September 2006. The Bon Marche, now encompassing 319,900 square feet, was rebranded under the Bon-Macy's moniker on August 1, 2003. On March 6, 2005, the entire Bon-Macy's chain was "Macy-ated."
In late 2005, the movie theatre and medical clinic buildings at NORTHGATE 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. A multilevel garage was also built in the southwest parking area.
The old Lamonts / Gottschalks building 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 the NORTHGATE MALL site. 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 segment commenced revenue service 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 (formerly The Bon Marche) 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
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
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)
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
King County, Washington tax assessor website
https://www.marriott.com
https://seattle.urbanize.city
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