At a press conference earlier this week, the CEO of National Hockey League (NHL) Seattle announced Seattle’s new NHL team will be siting their offices and practice facility at Northgate Mall surface parking lot, as the first phase of the mall’s redevelopment. Many have hailed this as a victory for the city and a benefit for the Northgate area. The 180,000 square foot facility will have three ice rinks, a main one with space for 1,000 spectators and two smaller ones with with 400 person capacity. The complex will also include the team headquarters and cost its private investors an estimated $70 million all told.
The Seattle Times article quoted the Tod Leiweke, CEO of NHL Seattle as saying “There is simply not another site like this.’’ And I agree, though for different reasons than him.
Besides being the site of an aging mall that is a dinosaur of the auto-age, the proposed location is immediately within the walkshed of the Northgate light rail station that is slated to open in 2021. Approved by the region’s taxpayers as part of Sound Transit 2 (ST2), the Northgate Link extension will add stations at the U District, Roosevelt and Northgate. Additional extensions will continue extending the line North to Lynnwood (2024) and Everett (2036). The Northgate Link extension is being built at a cost of $1.9 billion taxpayer dollars, or over $600 million per station. It is one of the largest investments in public transit the region has ever made. This all begs the question, is a NHL practice complex the best use of precious space near light rail?
