Michigan’s last remaining horse racing track, Northville Downs, closed in 2024 and is now being redeveloped into a mixed-use neighborhood known as The Downs. When finished, the nearly 50-acre development will feature a mix of apartments, single-family homes, townhomes, commercial spaces, and neighborhood parks.
One of the project’s primary goals was the creation of River Park, located in the eastern portion of the site. A key objective of this effort was to daylight the Walled Lake Branch of the Rouge River, restoring it from its previously underground enclosed course.
The redevelopment involved extensive site improvements, including mass earthmoving and demolition, utility installation, aggregate base construction, sidewalks, curbs, asphalt paving, concrete bridge abutments and retaining walls, rammed aggregate piers, building foundations, and structural steel. As part of the bridge construction, our team redesigned the bridge wing walls using an unconventional approach that allowed construction to continue without relocating overhead electric lines, saving both time and costs.
PEA Group provided construction materials testing, helical pier installation monitoring, load testing, soil investigations, and bridge wing wall design for the site, helping advance the transformation of the former racetrack into a new mixed-use neighborhood.