Racing at Northville Downs gets reprieve

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.

"Races will go on at the track through 2024," said Mike Carlo, operations manager of the racetrack. Carlo said he signed a land lease option earlier this week with property owners to keep the business running.

"We're just excited to be staying here longer and working harder and harder to keep horse racing alive in Michigan," he said.

The option was extended to Carlo because a massive mixed-use development planned there by Farmington Hills-based Hunter Pasteur Homes has been delayed, likely for a few years. Work was previously planned to start in the first quarter of this year.

"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."

Wertheimer said he found out about six months ago that the development wouldn't progress on the initial timeline. The stalled proposal had included 525 residential units, 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

"The move to reopen three sub areas of the Master Plan came after the Planning Commission's discussion of the … preliminary site plan presented by Hunter-Pasteur for the Downs property and adjoining sub-areas," according to a post on the city's website last September. "These discussions uncovered new information about the property and impacts of redevelopment. The (planned unit development) plans have been formally withdrawn, and no new proposals have yet been formally submitted for review."

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