Northtown Plaza was one of the first shopping malls in Houston, Texas, built in 1959 and remodeled in the 1980s. A major fire took place at the center in December 1999. The center is currently owned by UK-based Vicinity Centres.
Kroger opened one of its first "Superstores" nearby in 1974. Since 1981, area landmark Gallery Furniture (owned by Jim McIngvale) has sat nearby, which itself suffered a major fire in 2009. Also located nearby was the Safeway (later demolished for a warehouse complex) where the crime beginning the case of Shaka Sankofa occurred in 1981 as well. This and similar shootings contributed to Houston being named "murder capital" of the United States at the time (a title later held by Camden, New Jersey and Detroit). A bowling establishment, Fair Lanes Windfern (today a branch of AMF) in nearby Jersey Village, Texas, was the location of another such crime in June 1980. Willowbrook Mall also opened in Houston in 1981, despite malls across America such as Dixie Square Mall having recently failed due to crime. However, Greenspoint Mall near Northtown Plaza built in 1976 earned the nickname of "Gunspoint" in the 1990s, and much of it has since closed.
Similarly named shopping centers called "Northtowne Plaza" can also be found in Norristown, Pennsylvania (with a similar tenant mix) as well as Claymont, Delaware.
Tenants include: