One of north Seattle’s most enduring retail destinations is changing hands: Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group announced that a subsidiary has agreed to buy University Village, an open-air complex near the University of Washington. The price was not disclosed, and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions. The new owner has not yet announced plans to redevelop the center or make changes for tenants.
The news broke in the final days of October and looks less like a sudden turning point than the culmination of a long transformation. University Village opened in 1956 as a relatively modest, car-oriented neighborhood shopping center: two long rows of single-story shops, a Rhodes department store and a large parking lot. It sprang up beside the University of Washington campus at a time when retail was increasingly moving from old city streets to new roads and parking lots.
In August 1993, the property was acquired by Stewart Sloan, a former executive at the QFC grocery chain; in the years that followed, his partner Matthew Griffin also took part in the center’s redevelopment. Their work went beyond a simple renovation: parking areas were partly replaced with plazas and pavilions, and the standard lineup of neighborhood stores gave way to a mix of upscale national brands, restaurants and local independent businesses. Over three decades, the center grew from roughly 300,000–340,000 square feet to nearly 600,000 square feet—about 56,000 square meters.
That carefully assembled mix is apparently what interests Simon. University Village is now home to more than 100 businesses and services. Notable tenants include Apple, RH Gallery, Crate & Barrel, Room & Board, Lululemon, Aritzia, Vuori, French brand Sézane and Din Tai Fung. In Seattle, where traditional enclosed malls have struggled in recent years, U Village remains a rare retail destination that people visit not only to buy something in particular, but also to stroll, dine and meet up.
Simon Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer Eli Simon called University Village an “exceptional” retail destination and said the acquisition aligns with the company’s strategy of owning distinctive, high-quality properties in strong markets. Susie Plummer, a partner and University Village’s general manager, described the sale as a moment to thank the employees, business owners and visitors who have made the center what it is over nearly seven decades.
This is not Simon’s first entry into Washington state, but University Village is quite different from the large enclosed malls the company typically owns. Simon already owns Tacoma Mall, the retail portion of Northgate Station in Seattle, and outlet centers in Tulalip and North Bend. The U Village acquisition will add a rare asset to that portfolio: a compact, open-air center embedded in an affluent urban neighborhood and surrounded by a university, a medical campus and a growing number of residential developments.
The King County Assessor’s Office values the land and buildings at University Village at about $262 million, but that is an administrative figure for tax purposes, not evidence of an agreed sale price. Neither the buyer nor the sellers disclosed the financial terms. For now, store employees, regular visitors and small tenants have no answer to the key practical question: will the transition amount to a change of ownership on paper, or will it eventually alter the character of the “village” that its previous owners so steadily transformed into a premium urban marketplace?
The deal comes amid a broader generational shift among owners of the region’s key commercial properties. The Freeman family, which controlled Kemper Development Company for about eight decades, is also exploring the sale of Bellevue Collection, a complex comprising Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place and Lincoln Square. In both cases, this is about more than real estate: major landmarks familiar to local residents are passing from local family owners to a market increasingly shaped by scale, capital and strategy well beyond Puget Sound.
Based on: Seattle’s University Village will soon have a new owner