As developers work to reimagine Hixson’s Northgate Mall, community members have expressed desires for what they want from the site.
With sticker dots and multicolored sticky notes in hand, attendees of a Wednesday meeting of the community organization Friends of Hixson roamed around a crowded room at Valleybrook Golf Club, perusing poster boards displaying possibilities for the Northgate property.
If there was an idea an attendee liked, a dot got placed on the board. If they had specific feedback to give, a sticky note got put on a board.
Northgate is “mostly dead” but has lots of potential, retired Tennessee Valley Authority employee and longtime Hixson resident Allen Miller said in an interview. Northgate redevelopment should take its cues from Plan Chattanooga, Miller said.
According to Plan Chattanooga, the comprehensive development guide the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission uses for zoning cases, Hixson could benefit from Northgate becoming a mixed-use, walkable development. Nashville-based architectural firm Smith Gee Studio is working on a design that would transition Northgate from a traditional shopping mall into a town center.