Northgate's slow evolution from parking lots to a walkable Seattle neighborhood

Northgate Mall is becoming a transit-oriented neighborhood. Where there were parking lots, there will be apartments, shops, and a park-like space. There are plans for offices too, but those are on hold until the market for offices bounces back.

From the roof deck of one new building, Scott Travis with Simon Property Group points out remnants of the old mall below.

“That was the main concourse of the mall that you were walking inside shopping,” he said.

When the mall opened in 1950, it helped shape a new kind of development built around cars.

The key question for decades was simple: Is there enough parking?

Just a decade ago, that idea still defined Northgate. A sea of parking lots surrounded the mall.

Now, mid-rise apartment buildings are going up in their place, steps from the Northgate light rail station.

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The redevelopment is part of a broader shift. Cities are starting to move away from rules that required large amounts of parking, especially near transit.

But that transition has been gradual, like helium slowly escaping from a forgotten birthday balloon.

New rules at the state and local level allow developers to skip some parking.

But they don’t ban parking, if the developer chooses to build it. That's why these new buildings will still include one parking space per apartment.

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There’s market demand for it, Travis explained. He said his company's analysis suggest other new residential buildings in the neighborhood are "under-parked," with some including no parking at all.

Travis said many of the tenants will likely come from places with less transit, and they’ll expect a spot. It's just like any other amenity, like the on-site gym or the building's co-working space.

“Maybe today, a resident may move in with their car, and in five years, not need that car anymore, because they start to rely on that mass transit and its easy access from this location,” he said.

Simon Property Group's Patrick Peterman said his company is redeveloping many of its malls, but Seattle stands out.

“This is a unique case," he said. "We have a light rail station, so we're now a transit-oriented hub for a whole community here in North Seattle.”

It took decades for cities like Seattle to reorganize themselves around cars. Now, it could take decades for the city to reorganize again around transit.