Vision: Overview

A Dramatic Reinvention
At Northgate - situated in the heart of beautiful Marin County - the time is right for a dramatic renovation as a fresh, modern shopping environment. Here, shoppers want great retail alongside a compelling, highly tailored shopping experience - a place to find fashion or for family outings, with the best names in retail and dining, too. 
 
A New Design
This re-imagined shopping destination will offer simple yet dramatic light-filled spaces, an indoor/outdoor design to take advantage of the region's spectacular days, and a new connection with this one-of-a-kind local landscape. The result will feel like creative reuse of a reclaimed warehouse or a rediscovered industrial building - think "Marin loft" - but rethought as a vibrant new shopping environment.
 
This reinvention of Northgate - accomplished through clever architectural changes that remake the existing mall in exciting new ways - will blur the boundaries between indoor shopping spaces and new, welcoming courtyards, open-air dining areas and outdoor gathering spaces.
 
Inside, new clerestory windows, running the length of the shopping center, will create an appealing, almost soaring interior. Oversized glass doors will simply slide away during the balmy extended summer months, opening to new outdoor spaces, shaded by awnings and canopies, including a courtyard setting for new sit-down restaurant and retail offerings.
 
On the east side of the center, new retail spaces with an exterior façade will spill into a beautifully landscaped courtyard near Century Theatre. The current food court will close on February 15, 2009 and is expected to reopen in its carefully selected new location. The newly designed food court will offer a diverse selection of food with a total of six selections and is pleased to welcome back a few customer favorites. At the center’s west side, an eclectic variety of stores and dining options will make use of the new outdoor lifestyle component and offer customers a unique shopping and dining experience.
 
Introducing the Promenade
Designed to mesh with the region's active, outdoor lifestyle, the new Northgate shopping center also incorporates a new amenity envisioned by the City of San Rafael: a landscaped Promenade - a new walking and biking path - along the north and east sides of the property. As the midpoint of a popular regional bike network, the pathway will connect key elements of San Rafael - a popular park on the west and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin Civic Center on the east.
 
Ultimately the new, redesigned shopping center, with its wealth of outdoor and indoor spaces, and plenty of retail, dining and entertainment options, will act as a true Town Center for all of north San Rafael.