University Village, Seattle

University Village (colloquially known as U-Village) is a shopping mall in northeastern Seattle, Washington, United States, located in the south corner of the Ravenna neighborhood to the north of the Downtown area. It is an open-air shopping center which offers restaurants, locally owned boutiques, and national retailers, and is a popular retail destination in the region for home furnishings, popular fashions, gift items, and restaurants. It is currently owned by multimillionaire Stuart Sloan. History Creation University Village was originally developed by Continental Inc. who also developed Westwood Village in West Seattle and Aurora Village in Shoreline, Washington. it was once home to a Coast Salish village named sluʔwiɫ, which means "Little Canoe Channel" in Lushootseed. The 24-acre (9.7 ha) shopping center was built in 1956 across NE 45th Street on an earlier part of the Montlake Landfill (since 1911, 1922–1966), taking out what remained of the Union Bay Marsh that was drained by the lowering of Lake Washington as a result of the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal (1913–1916). Some wetland was later partially restored as the Union Bay Natural Area with the Center for Urban Horticulture. Early history Until the early 1990s, the character of University Village was decidedly different. Most of its businesses were small, and the chain stores were all local: Ernst Hardware and Malmo Nursery, Lamonts department store (acquired by Gottschalks in 2000), Pay 'n Save Drugs (sold to PayLess Drug in the early 1990s), and QFC supermarket, then a much smaller facility on the western side of the property, formerly an A&P store. The present QFC store on the east edge opened in 1996, it was formerly a dairy facility from 1955 to 1991. There was even a bowling alley, Village Lanes, which was originally a roller rink in the 1950s, located near the northwest corner. Many of the businesses began to falter toward the end of the 1980s, however, and in 1993 the owners of the mall decided to sell. For much of this period, University Village was owned by the Tektronix Retirement Investment Fund. Modern QFC chairman Stuart Sloan and his business partner Matt Griffin bought the property, and other tenants began to move out. Barnes & Noble was an anchor tenant after the mid-1990s renovation, but closed at the end of 2011. University Village began to attract upscale retailers in the 1990s and 2000s after its renovation into a lifestyle center with outdoor spaces. Despite the influx of new national retailers, 61% of U-Village merchants are still local. Shops Anchor tenants today are an Apple Store, Crate & Barrel, The Gap, and Pottery Barn. A significant adjacent anchor is the Seattle QFC flagship store. A competing Safeway location behind QFC closed in 2023 and was relocated to University District. In 1991, neighborhood activists initiated a campaign with the City to "daylight" Ravenna Creek through Ravenna Park to Lake Washington, but the segment from the park to the University of Washington (UW) and the Union Bay Natural Area was successfully blocked by the owners of University Village. It has been recently updated to include more shops below the brand new medical center. Amazon.com, an online retailer founded and based in the region, opened its first physical storefront at University Village on November 3, 2015. It has since closed. Boundaries The campus of the UW is to the west and south, the neighborhood of Bryant farther to the east, and the neighborhood of Ravenna to the north, but portions of the surrounding neighborhoods are often referred to as being in "University Village" themselves, approximately west to 22nd Avenue NE, north to NE 55th Street, and east to Union Bay Place NE and 30th Avenue NE.< The area's principal arterials are 25th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street; 35th Avenue is a minor arterial. Collector arterials are NE Blakeley-Union Bay Place NE and NE 55th streets. See also Neighborhoods of Ravenna Creek References Bibliography External links Official website