In 2003, construction began to develop Thorton Place, a transit-oriented, mixed-use project, which was then simply an 8-acre lot of empty asphalt and a Metro Park-N-Ride. Two years earlier former Mayor Nickels had made the revitalization of the Northgate neighborhood a top priority and this would be one its main achievements. Completed in 2009, Thorton Place consists of 109 LEED-certifiedcondos, 278 LEED-certifiedapartments (20 percent affordable), a 14-screen cinema, 50,000 square feet of retail, and 143 units of housing for senior citizens positioned at a bus transit hub and future light rail station area. The complex also includes 2.5 acres of green open space and helped partially restore Thorton Creek, which had been redirected underground for many years.