Over its 60 years as one of Marin’s busiest shopping hubs, the Northgate mall has gone through a number of significant transformations.
There have been expansions, transformation from an open-air mall to one that’s covered and the addition of stores along its exteriors.
Businesses have come and gone.
The 2018 closure of Sears, one of the mall’s longtime anchor stores, signaled another transformation. It certainly signaled the ongoing struggles of brick-and-mortar stores in the face of the growth of online shopping.
The shopping center’s owners advanced plans to turn the Sears spot into a Costco, only to withdraw its blueprints after stiff neighborhood opposition to plans to add a gas station.
City Hall pushed for housing, maybe not as many units as the owners want to see, but an opportunity to meet a community need.
The San Rafael City Council has given a green light to mall owners Merlone Geier Partners’ plans to transform the shopping center into a “town square” with 1,422 residences, the largest residential development seen in Marin in years.
Located next to the freeway and close to transit makes the shopping center a natural for a large development.
Traffic experts, commissioned by the city, estimate that the change of commercial space to residential, will reduce traffic. The flow of traffic to and from a busy shopping center is greater than from residential development, they say.
The council’s approval includes a condition that the city will evaluate traffic conditions after completion of the first phase – 864 units – to determine if other traffic improvements are needed.
The development should also help the city meet its state-imposed ambitious housing quota of adding 3,220 new housing units by 2031.
Many neighbors question the size of the development, which will be built in phases.
But others see the development as meeting a community need and offering an opportunity for converting the struggling center into a vibrant live/work place that will continue to provide commercial space as well as room for community gatherings.
Having more than the planned 143 units designated as “affordable” would have been a stronger response to the local need for workforce housing.
Just as the construction of the shopping center brought change when it opened in 1965, the plan is a new chapter in the property’s role as an economic hub.
In voting to approve the plan, Councilmember Maika Llorens said, “It’s the vision of being able to live and work, and being able to gather in one place, which I think can really bring vibrancy and new energy to Northgate.”
Councilmember Rachel Kertz, whose district includes Northgate and the surrounding neighborhoods, said, “Instead of fearing change, I choose to meet it with curiosity and excitement and commitment to building something remarkable together.”
Council members, including Mayor Kate Colin, said the plan shapes the mall to meet the needs and demands of the future.
Many neighbors are more fearful than impressed. They are wary of change, particularly the addition of more than 1,400 townhomes and apartments.
It is change. A big change – for them, San Rafael and our county.
Its design, the affordability and accommodations of the residential development and the phasing of the construction are going to be important to its success.
Merlone Geier needs to remain cognizant that many of its Terra Linda neighbors are more worried than in wonderment about the change. Its success in proving its vision to the market and neighbors is important in fulfilling the promise of its plan.
Through most of its history, Northgate has been a significant economic engine for San Rafael, generating sales and property tax revenue, jobs and a place to gather, dine and shop. The addition of housing and redesign of the center should enhance that role.
This is an important piece of property and Merlone Geier now has the city’s approval to move forward with an important project, one that’s better suited for the future.
