Northgate Mall (San Rafael)
Northgate Mall is a shopping mall located in the Terra Linda neighborhood of San Rafael, California, 15 miles (24 km) north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It's the largest of three shopping centers in San Rafael called Northgate. It was managed by The Macerich Company until 2017 and is now managed by Merlone Geier Partners. It is the only enclosed regional shopping center in Marin County. The mall's anchors are Macy's and Kohl's with a vacant anchor last occupied by Sears. It also contains a Century Theatres multiplex, a food court, and more than 90 specialty stores, services, and restaurants.
Location | San Rafael, California, United States |
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Coordinates | 38.005233°N 122.543997°W |
Address | 5800 Northgate Drive |
Opening date | 1966 |
Management | Merlone Geier Partners |
Owner | Merlone Geier Partners |
No. of stores and services | 91 |
No. of anchor tenants | 3 (2 open, 1 vacant) |
Total retail floor area | 731,803 sq ft (67,986.7 m2) [1] |
No. of floors | 1 (2 in anchors) |
Website | shopatnorthgate |
The original anchor in the corner, now occupied by Macy's, was The Emporium, which opened in 1964. When the rest of the mall opened in 1965, it had an open-air design. The mall was enclosed when it was renovated in 1987.
MTR Properties, Inc. was the original owner. Macerich bought the mall in 1985 before selling it to Merlone Geier Partners in 2017.
On January 4, 2018, Sears announced that its store at the mall will be closing as part of a plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store closed in April 2018.[2] Around the same time, plans were announced that would transform the mall into a "town center." [3] As of September 2019, a proposal is under consideration to convert the area previously occupied by Sears into a Costco warehouse.[4]
On November 14, 2019, Forever 21 announced that the Northgate Mall location would be closing along with 21 other locations in California & 90 locations nationwide. It closed in January 2020.[5]
Renovation
Macerich began renovating the mall in 2008. The proposed renovation has been controversial, as housing advocates have pushed for inclusion of affordable housing in the project (to replace the aging housing in San Rafael's Canal Area), while Macerich chose to proceed without triggering a full-scale environmental review.[6]
References
- "Macerich Company Website". Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- "Northgate's Sears, Novato's Macy's furniture store closing". Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- "Terra Linda's Northgate owners plan 'town center' concept". Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- "Costco offers peek at Terra Linda store plans". Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/03/forever-21-plans-to-close-several-stores-in-the-bay-area/
- Peter Seidman, Pacific Sun, December 24, 2007, "Northgate due for makeover" Archived January 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 5, 2008