End of the line for Seattle’s Northgate Apartments before redevelopment Dec. 25, 2024 at 6:00 am Updated Dec. 25, 2024 at 6:00 am By Daniel Beekman and Heidi Groover Seattle Times staff reporters
Light rail trains are now zooming past the Northgate Apartments, but this winter marks the end of the line for the low-rent complex built about 75 years ago.
The Seattle Housing Authority, which bought the 8.5-acre, 210-unit complex by Northgate Mall in 2019, is closing it for demolition and redevelopment.
The aging two-story wooden buildings will soon make way for a mixed-income community with as many as 1,400 new apartments, per the authority’s plans. In the meantime, some of the households that remain are spending the cold holiday season without central heat, because the complex’s steam heating system has broken down.
Two-thirds of the old complex’s households moved out this year with relocation assistance from the public housing agency, which is nailing plywood over their apartment doors when they leave.
Billy Levins tucks himself into a sleeping bag at night, he said Monday outside his ground-floor apartment. The Seattle Housing Authority has provided electric space heaters to residents without radiator heat, the agency said. Levins tries to use his device sparingly, however, because it can run up his electric bill, he said.
Levins, 58, said he doesn’t like to complain. His sleeping bag is warm and he’s used to cold nights because he was homeless for years, he mentioned.
A young family is also using a space heater despite it driving up their electric bill because they need to keep their 5-month-old daughter warm. They said the authority is providing financial help for their move soon.
Kerry Coughlin, a spokesperson for the authority, said all six of the complex’s boilers started failing last winter. The agency made repairs and began replacing them but the new boilers stressed the complex’s underground steam system, causing leaks in the pipes. Some residents were put up in hotels.
With demolition and redevelopment of the complex scheduled to start in 2025, it wasn’t feasible to replace the entire heating system, Coughlin said. Source: Esri (Mark Nowlin / The Seattle Times)
“So we brought in space heaters where needed to make sure that everyone had adequate heat,” she said. “We also moved up our planned relocation program, beginning with the buildings with the most boiler problems.”
An on-call contractor continues to work on the boilers, Coughlin said.
“(Seattle Housing Authority) offers a generous relocation package, far exceeding any requirements, and provides individualized support,” Coughlin said. “The number of households at Northgate reduces almost daily.”
It’s a slow-rolling goodbye for a complex that’s housed multiple generations of residents with modest incomes near the shopping mall and Interstate 5.
Displacement concerns flared in 2012 as the city made zoning changes to encourage development near transit and the property’s private owners considered redevelopment. But the authority later bought the complex and, in 2020, announced it would partner with City Hall on redevelopment plans.
The agency has previously undertaken wholesale redevelopment projects in other communities, such as Yesler Terrace.
Northgate’s light rail station opened in 2021, with service extended to Shoreline and Lynnwood this year. Daniel Beekman: 206-464-2164 or dbeekman@seattletimes.com: Seattle Times staff reporter Daniel Beekman covers politics and communities. Heidi Groover: 206-464-8273 or hgroover@seattletimes.com.