DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — People in Durham got a chance to see the future look of the abandoned Northgate Mall.
The mall’s owners, Northwood Investors, recently announced it would sell a third of the property to Regency Centers, with plans for six commercial buildings and retail space. The site would also be rebranded as Ellerbe Square.
For years, the community has been vocal about what they want to replace the mall. Those thoughts have included a grocery store, affordable housing, and other services that the community has deemed vital.
“The developers and the community, local government need to come together and figure out what’s best for the community,” said resident and former mall tenant Shea Ramirez. “The mall closed down in 2020. That’s been five years ago. Going on six years ago. Stop playing patty cake with the property and people’s lives in their community and begin to create a plan and make it happen.”
Northgate Mall in May 2020 (Photo: ABC11)
Northwood and Regency are both awaiting approval of the site plan by the City of Durham.
Neither has announced which stores will lease space at Ellerbe Square, nor what retailer will anchor the property.
“I don’t like not knowing what is possible there. We knew what we could have worked toward. But now, we don’t have a dog in the fight,” said Mayor Leo Williams. He spoke by phone to ABC11 from a conference in Austin, Texas.
Williams, both frustrated yet optimistic about the site’s future, admitted that back-and-forth conversations among the community, City Hall, and the developer have gotten in the way of Northgate’s future.
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“Durham does have a small-town feel to it. But we gotta put our big boy pants also,” said Williams. “The new forward-looking and more innovative companies, when they’re looking for a new home, they’re looking at Austin, Texas and Durham, North Carolina.”
“We can’t go back to the past, right?” said Ramirez. “Durham is no longer what Durham used to be. We’ve got to get that out of our heads.”
Regency Centers said it hopes to close on its plans for Ellerbe Square in late 2026.
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