Comments

1
NIMBY's will tie this up for five years, minimum, by which time the opportunity will have moved somewhere else.
2
Northgate hasn't always been enclosed. I can remember going there as a child in the 70s and you'd get rained on while crossing from Nordstrom to the Bon Marche.
3
What NIMBY's in that neighborhood are going to bitch about this? Northgate / Lake City area needs this so bad.
4
What NIMBY's exactly live in this neighborhood? Maybe when you get into Maple Leaf MAYBE, but the NIMBY's around this area are on the other side of 35th in Wedgewood.

Northgate / Lake City area needs something like this so bad.
5
“Homeowners who stand to profit handsomely from the housing shortage”???? You have got to be kidding. I call BS. We are coming for you.
6
It's okay to advocate tall buildings, but towers do block light. No need to put light-blocking in quotes. Silly architect.
6
David - within the span of two paragraphs, you both argue "a few hundred units is a drop in the bucket", and "homeowners ...stand to profit handsomely from the housing shortage". There's a ton of opportunity at Northgate for sure, but your drivel ain't helping. Why not take your suburban urbanism back to where you're from, and let the planners plan?
7
TL:DR - I have an idea but no experience as a developer to make it realistic or money to make it happen.
8
"homeowners ...stand to profit handsomely from the housing shortage".

Oh, for fuck sake. So now the enemy is home owners/ownership? Not developers, property management groups, investment banks, an explosion of high income earners with extreme population growth in a constrained geography?

No. The enemy are people who "own" homes. IE: normal people.

Jesus Christ. Gee, Dave you ever want to own a home? Well. I guess that aggressive act will transmogrify you into "the enemy."

In order to reap the rewards we have to SELL our homes, dumbfuck. Which means putting that land on the market for development.
9
LMAO at this white guy who thinks that people think that this housing is going to be affordable and that anybody thinks black and brown transit users who have been displaced by the developments at the CD. But, you go on with your race baiting. This Latino is going to continue mocking you.
10
@8- where have you been? Private home ownership has ALWAYS been a target for the keyboard mashers at the stranger.
11
I'm laughing at @3 and @4 being all "what NIMBYs?", followed by a host of NIMBY comments (wrapped in a cloak of concern trolling, of course - wouldn't want to be outed as a NIMBY).

Fun fact: it doesn't matter whether NIMBYs are on the other side of 35th; they will drive to your public meetings and spew their bullshit.
12
so many grad student projects coming true at once!
13
@11 hahaha, touché. Not to pile on, but the "homeowners stand to profit" isn't a reality for the vast majority of homeowners using them as their primary residence.
14
"Oh, it's just my house: no big deal if we make it ugly with this improvement, or if the neighbor next door parks a car up on blocks in their front lawn," said no homeowner ever.

@13: homeowners standing to profit is very much a reality. One of the main reasons people are told to buy is to build equity (as opposed to just "wasting" money on rents). A home is viewed as a retirement nest egg. A home is typically backed by a huge loan, and being underwater on that loan due to lowered home values can be an incredibly bad situation for a homeowner. So while homeowners probably aren't thinking "sweet, I made $100k this year on my home value!" (unless they're planning on selling very soon).. they ARE regularly thinking about how to maintain or raise the value of their home with the idea that it will fund their retirement or allow moving without owing money to the bank.
15
Also, here's a comment from a Magnolia homeowner in the Fort Lawton EIS.

https://twitter.com/bruteforceblog/statu…
16
@2 Alden: Yeah, I remember, too! Getting soaked going to movies and / or The Big Top for cheeseburgers and fries after shopping at Nordstrom and the Bon Marche. But then, how many of us ever gave a hoot back then about carrying umbrellas?
17
I am a home owner in the neighborhood - I would love to see taller buildings and density - I don't really think it will help out with the housing storage, but as someone who enjoys living in urban density higher buildings helps. Hell, I'd have a smile on my face if they put in 100+ story towers. Still, I wouldn't see any profit, unless I sell, which I won't, my property taxes will probably increase though. But please don't replace Northgate mall with boring 4-7 story apartment buildings.
18
@14 What you say is mostly true, I am just addressing the trope that regular folks who finance their homes are making out like bandits. People with investment properties and retirees looking to leave the area, they'll do just great.

I have people that have never owned a home say to me "your place is worth double what you paid 8 years ago, you should sell!" And what, move to Kansas City and burn through through my windfall in 5 years?
19
Two things I see wrong with this blog #1 Middle America actually means a class of people that are of a conservative political force ( you must be a liberal obviously and ignorant of of American definition) Actually For # 2 Northgate is getting
" Ballardized "...was a cool place to hang out but yuppie utopia and twink life styles and sissy millienails are here and here to stay ! Northgate Mall is not worth crying over and not the best Mall even if it's historic origin be the first Mall in the USA built , Ballard was a great town and now all frigged up and don't have to explain how that happen and now happening here and there is no such thing as affordable housing in room town buddy thanks to genifacation of Greedy Liberal fake millionaires like Jeff Bozo (Bezos) of Amazon and that old pop corn fart " Paul Allen " also changed Seattle to a cess pool of idiot smart boys and girls liberal caliphat of not a very Americana life and happiness and inequality for all blue collar to white collar.....So I guess being from Middle America is a crime , actually you in Seattle in The last 8 + years invited this mess along with pushing average people from " Middle America " out of Seattle and North king county ! As for me I am going back to Middle America cause Seattle western Washington is not part of the USA...Las Vegas here I come wooooo hoooooo !
20
@19 First, Ballard always sucked, and; Las Vegas is about as "Middle America" as Lady Gaga album. I think you're looking for Reno.
21
@19: wow. up your dosage.
23
@19 Ballard has a better food and beer scene now they got rod of the white trash like yourself.
24
Since we are already spending a bazillion dollars to build a lightrail stop at Northgate, set to open in another couple years, then we should absolutely be zoning the surrounding area to take the most advantage of that. Everywhere within walking distance of that lightrail stop should be upzoned to at least 20 stories. It is ludicrous to spend all that money to build light rail, and then insist that the area around a major stop stay zoned for single family houses, or even short buildings.
25
For starters only 53% of households in Northgate are white so I don't know whats with the racist reference in the article. The traffic problem is real, I've lived just a few blocks from the Mall for 30 years. Then there are parking issues. Most people do own a car, even if they use transit they need to park it somewhere.I actually would rather see buildings go up than spread into the SFR area.Some forget we still have no sidewalks and drive up mailboxes on only one side of the street. I have an open ditch in front of my house. Fine if you want us to be urban but we need some help here.
26
Why keep building? There will be a crash and we'll have a glut of apartments and condos. Keep single family homes safe for families that outgrow apartments - funny that no-one ever thinks of THAT!
27
All one has to do is look at the plan to see there's not enough parking for all the housing, retail, as well as overflow parking for the light rail.

The plan is fucked up from the get go. In a city where it rains about 7 months of the year, where there are more demographics other than the 18-30 demographic, it's insane (and unbelievably short-sighted) to expect that people won't need to drive to and park at Northgate.

This will be true especially if those young techies being drawn to Seattle today begin to age in place (a 50 year-old with wrecked knees from a bad bike fall in his 20s is likely going to need to drive, not bike or stand out in cold rain for 30 minutes or more waiting for a bus or train).

The plan is meant solely to maximize revenue for developers and property managers.
28
@23 lol. as if a food and beer scene means something. Why am I not shocked that you're only able to relate to where you live in consumptive terms. You might as well live in a shopping mall. Stop scratching your head about why middle america hates coastal liberals so much.
29
@19: Wow. Maybe cut back on the caffeine?
30
@22 STFU already, you gluttonous, Trumpzilla-apologist stooge.
31
Bungalow Belt Boomers should love towers at Northgate. Their presence would reduce the pressure to build those six-story boxes in the neighborhoods. “No Single Family Houses Were Harmed in the Construction of These Towers.”
32
Northgate mall is dead because it does not cater to the surrounding area. People rich and thin enough to shop at Nordstrom etc. do not shop at Northgate mall. What we need at NG Mall are shops for fat people with incomes under $100k/yr. You know how hard it is to find something nice to wear to work if you are over 40 and over a size 12? I used to go there all the time but it's just crap now and the bathrooms are stuck at one end of the very long mall. Plus, canned music. God, turn off the GD music already. And too much chemical air fresheners. It's like being in a sensory overload of horrible experiences all at once. Pause for air. I need a cocktail.
33
#32 Retailing is still laboring under an out-of-date marketing assumption -- that the prime clothing customer is between the ages of 18-33, an age group where women for the most part haven't yet experienced the body changes that come with having children or maturing (hence, the "kiddie" sizes women's clothing stocked).

I remember back in the 90s when a couple of major department store chains (Macy's for one) announced they would stop carrying larger sizes and clothes meant for more mature shoppers because they wanted stores to attract young, hip customers. They didn't want housewives and Dads seen shopping at their stores. They believed those shoppers scared away the kids who were primed to spend big on clothes. Karma is a bitch and I love that these same stores are now struggling to survive and wondering why that strategy is no longer working.

Well, Millennials aren't the fashion victim, clothes horses that previous generations were at the same age. Stores are marketing to a demographic that today doesn't give all that much of a rat's ass about clothes for the most part. They care more about and spend their disposable incomes on devices, connectivity, and experiences, not over-priced clothes. Meanwhile, retailers have done nothing to attract back to their stores those mature customers they disdained and shooed away. They brought a lot of their current woes on themselves.

34
We need 50 story towers at Northgate, make it a true downtown hub.
35
Why is there no talk of affordable housing units in this master plan?

Something Seattle desperately needs! Especially close to transit stops
36
I hear the owner developer of this mall from deep midwest specializes in strip centers and suburban outlet malls - so don’t expect much in terms of good design or architecture . Best to have a prolonged design review process with a lot of community feedback.

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