Northgate Town Square.

Project brief

Northgate Town Square is a mixed-use redevelopment of the Northgate Mall site at 5800 Northgate Drive, in the Terra Linda neighborhood of San Rafael, California. The plan replaces the enclosed mall, which first opened in the mid-1960s, with up to 1,422 apartments and townhomes, along with shops, restaurants and a new movie theater. The site covers 42 acres, and the buildings range from two to seven stories. Merlone Geier Partners, which has owned the property since 2017, is the developer. Studio T-Square is the residential architect and Field Paoli Architects is the retail architect.

The scheme is organized around an open-air main street and a town square of about 57,000 square feet, which is built in the first of three phases. Six residential sections include 138 for-sale townhomes, and 143 affordable apartments are spread through the project rather than grouped in a single building. A bike and pedestrian network links the site to a nearby SMART train station. The San Rafael City Council approved the project unanimously in December 2024, and it is now under construction. Early work at the southern end of the site, around the former Sears buildings, is clearing ground for townhomes while the rest of the mall stays open.

In 2023 BOGZA produced a 3D model, an animation, site plans and exterior renderings for the project. These include aerial views of the plan from two directions that place the new buildings within the surrounding hills and neighborhoods.