Northville Downs to Close: To Be Replaced by 5-600 apartments, townhouses and houses

On the heels of the announcement of the closing Hazel Park Raceway it has been announced that Northville Downs has been sold to a developer.

The track will remain open and Northville Downs is even making an investment to pick up Hazel Park customers while it ponders its possible future elsewhere. It is the last horse racing venue in Michigan.

With the nearby super-affluent nearby Northville village center a short walk away, the land is highly valued.

From Crains:

Farmington Hills-based homebuilder Hunter Pasteur Homes is under contract to buy the Northville Downs horse racetrack and redevelop the 48-acre property for housing.

The harness racetrack's land has long been sought by developers in upscale Northville, but the project wouldn't necessarily end horse racing in the area.

The site near Sheldon Road and Hines Drive is expected to be turned into 500-600 apartments and for-sale townhouses and single-family homes, according to a news release. Commercial uses are also expected.

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That's a nice site.

600 units is a ton of housing for a sleepy little village, though. I assume there will be community pushback.

Northville has excellent schools and high taxes, so future homeowners will likely have kids, meaning huge increase in student population.

The sad fact is - we used to own horses, and I'm a fan of horse racing - is that in this modern age where casinos are legal just about everywhere, it is hard to economically justify a horse track in any area where land is valuable. Unless a state allows horse tracks to provide casino-style gaming [[which, for instance, New York does but Michigan does not) it is terribly difficult for a horse track to be economically viable. Since the casino interests in Michigan own the legislature, there will be no horse racing in Michigan anymore, sooner rather than later.

This is one less cultural amenity we will have in this metro area. Sad.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

That's a nice site.

600 units is a ton of housing for a sleepy little village, though. I assume there will be community pushback.

Northville has excellent schools and high taxes, so future homeowners will likely have kids, meaning huge increase in student population.

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Yes, interesting point. You maybe be right about NIMBY push back. However the race trace area is an island decently separated from all the ancient village so, in a sense, it should not disturb that vibe.

I drive through and around Northville frequently. It is the best of the urban-sprawled villages in metro D, with a classic downtown and gracious neighborhoods with hundreds of outstanding 19th C houses that have been preserved and many big-footed. I am guessing there are historic ordinances as all new construction has ye olde architecture appointment consistent with the neighborhood.

The surround to the downtown got trashed up a few decades ago with a giant apartment or condo block with a huge parking lot, a number of historic houses were rezoned for business and low quality strip-mallish buildings were in-filled.

Racing at Northville Downs gets reprieve

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Crain's Detroit Business reports that harness racing will continue at Northville Downs, likely for several years to come, after the stalling of a $200 million residential redevelopment project planned for the site.

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"We can't develop without site plan approval from the city of Northville — we don't have that approval," said Randy Wertheimer, president and CEO of Hunter Pasteur Homes. "I don't know if the racetrack will be open for three years or four years, but they're definitely open for the foreseeable future."

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It sounds like Northville wants to have their ducks in a row before devoting a giant parcel adjacent to their downtown to some cookie cutter McMansions on cul-de-sacs. Good on them. :cool:

Possibly the memory of this case involving their neighbor to the North is making Northville tread cautiously. Like the article states, nobody came out ahead including the unmentioned taxpayers of Novi, they were still on the hook for the purchase of that 73 acres of parkland that was given in lieu of cash payment as part of the settlement.

https://www.builderonline.com/buildi...adblock-rage_o