Essay About Northgate Urban Center And Development Projects

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May 2007
Northgate Area Rezone Proposal
Background Information
Seattles Urban Centers. Over the next 20 years, the City of Seattle is expected to grow by
more than 51,000 households and 92,000 jobs. The Citys growth strategy is to guide the
majority of this growth into six designated “Urban Centers”, which are compact areas developed
intensively for a mix of land uses. Northgate is one of the Citys designated Urban Centers.
Northgate Goals & Revitalization Efforts. A Neighborhood Plan was adopted for the
Northgate Urban Center in 1993 and is incorporated in the Citys Comprehensive Plan. The
overall objective of the Comprehensive Plans Northgate policies is to transform an autooriented
landscape into a thriving multi-family residential and mixed-use Urban Center that
concentrates pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented development in the urban core to protect
and complement surrounding neighborhoods.
Northgates growth has lagged that of other Urban Centers for more than a decade. Since
1995, development of new residential units reached only six percent of the Northgate housing
growth target and from 1995 to 1998, only 16 percent of employment targets had been
achieved. However, this trend is changing with a number of significant public and private
projects, which have been initiated or accomplished over the past few years. These have
included the Northgate Branch Library, Community Center and Park Campus, Maple Leaf
Community Garden, Fifth Avenue NE Street Improvements, Open Space and Pedestrian
Connections Plan, and Public Arts Plan, and design of the Thornton Creek Water Quality
Channel. Development projects in the planning or construction stages include Northgate Mall
Redevelopment, Thornton Place, King County Metros Transit Oriented Development, and
redevelopment of three large properties along or adjacent to Northgate Way Ð- Mullally, Wallace
and Kauri. The Seattle Parks Department is also in the early stages of planning and design of a
park on the current Metro park-and-ride lot at 112th Street to accomplish a long-standing goal of
the Northgate community,. These initiatives, along with positive economic and market
conditions, have created a rare opportunity to shape growth in Northgate comprehensively,
rather than to react to individual projects.
Building on the Northgate CTIP. In 2006, the Seattle Department of Transportation
prepared the Northgate Coordinated Transportation Investment Plan (CTIP), to help plan for
anticipated growth. The CTIP includes a long-range (2030) area-wide transportation analysis
and identifies a list of priority transportation and pedestrian improvements that will accomplish
four major objectives: move people safely and efficiently; reduce drive-alone travel; support
housing and economic development; and protect neighborhoods. The final CTIP report was
published in September 2006.
May 2007
Focus on Northgate Way. Following a design workshop in late 2006, the City began early
discussions with the Northgate community regarding the option of legislatively upzoning
properties along or adjacent to a portion of Northgate Way (generally from Meridian Avenue to
Roosevelt Way) to help encourage and focus additional residential and mixed-use development
in this important corridor. In April, the Northgate Stakeholders Group transmitted an advice
memo to the Mayor and City Council expressing support for considering legislative rezoning
actions that could further Northgate revitalization by increasing density and heights (up to 125
feet) in the Urban Center. The Stakeholders also reaffirmed the importance of implementing the
CTIP improvements