Northgate Developer Abandons South Parking Lot Project

By Tom Herriman

Celebrating the decision by the owners of Northgate Mall to abandon plans for developing the south parking lot are: Brian Bodenback, Molly Burke, Gloria Butts, Janet Way, Dorothy Douglas, Joel Tufel, Harold Schmidt, Alec Fisken, Bob Vreeland, Knoll Lowney Urban Watershed Forum "Creeks or Concrete" Sponsored By Seattle Sierra Club, Liveable Communities Coalition, Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund, Citizens for a Liveable Northgate and Thornton Creek Alliance. At REI, 222 Yale Ave. N. Monday, October 30, 5:30 -7 p.m., networking, 7-9 p.m. forum. For info call (206) 365-4477 or 367-0863.

Simon Puts Property up for Sale

Grass Roots Alliance Beats City Planners and Huge Multinational Corporation

A small alliance of North Seattle residents, community and environmental groups, supported by volunteers and donations, has won an important battle with the city and Simon Property Group, a huge multinational corporation that owns Northgate Mall, over the future development of Northgate's south parking lot.

Simon Property Group announced September 28 it was shelving its plans to build a huge new complex of offices, stores, theaters and apartments on the five-acre site, and is putting the property up for sale.

Simon owns or has an interest in 253 properties: regional malls, community shopping centers and specialty and mixed-use properties containing 184 million square feet of gross leasable area in 36 states and Europe.

Simon attracts over two billion shopping visits annually to its properties. It is the largest publicly traded retail real estate company in North America with a total market capitalization of approximately $17 billion.

Simon's application to develop was approved by Seattle's Department of Design Construction and Land Use (DCLU). But Northgate neighborhood residents charged that the development ignored the master plan for the area developed in 1989, and also ignored the existence of Thornton Creek which originates on the west side of I-5 and flows under the freeway and under the south parking lot in a buried culvert.

The Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund, Thornton Creek Alliance, Citizens for a Liveable Northgate Sierra Club, P.O.N.D.E.R.S. and neighborhood councils in Maple Leaf, Victory Heights Haller Lake and several other communities, have fought with Simon and the City for several years, demanding that Thornton Creek be daylighted where it flows through the parking lot, and that community needs be taken into consideration in plans for the property.

A new branch library and community center are in the works for the Northgate neighborhood, and a detention pond for storm water is an essential part of restoring Thornton Creek to a more natural state in its path down to Lake Washington.

The community groups charged that Simon and the city failed to adequately gauge the impact of increased traffic in the Northgate neighborhood and that the development offered virtually no amenities or mitigation to the community.

Janet Way, chair of the Thornton Creek Alliance said Simon's decision to abandon their plans is a big victory for North Seattle Communities, and presents an opportunity to develop the site with a mix of public facilities and private development.

She said a detention pond is urgently need to control scouring of Thornton Creek downstream during rainstorms.

Simon's decision to pull out follows a court victory won by Thornton Creek advocates May 31 when King County Superior Court Judge Steven Scott ruled that Thornton Creek exists beneath the south parking lot of Northgate Mall.

The judge's ruling forced a year-long delay of city permits for the project.

The Court ruled that the city violated the Critical Areas Ordinance in permitting construction over the creek and ordered the city to conduct a new environmental impact study.

City Councilmember Richard Conlin warned that Simon Group may not have completely abandoned the project. He told The Seattle Press, "Simon might still be exploring alternatives." Conlin said the city was initiating a broad process to involve all interested community groups and city agencies in a discussion on the future of the property. He noted that the property is on the short list for a new branch library, and that other private developers may be interested in the site.

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