Downs redevelopment project

Strong attendance at Downs demolition/redevelopment meeting

The city hosted a meeting at the Northville Community Center on March 26 that drew approximately 140 people to learn about the demolition and construction plans for the Downs redevelopment project.

City Manager George Lahanas opened the meeting by welcoming citizens. “I’m really excited about this project,” he said. “It’s bringing a lot of great things to the community,” Topping the list are a daylighted river, new trails and a “smart, sustainable development” that “repurposes land without the need to build additional infrastructure.”

He noted the city has a lot in alignment with the developer, Hunter Pasteur, and its partners, but also has the responsibility of ensuring the project is properly implemented. He introduced the city team working on the development oversight who were present at the meeting, including DPW Director Mike Domine, Strategic Planning Director Wendy Wilmers Longpre and OHM engineer George Tsakoff.

Hunter Pasteur Executive Seth Herkowitz introduced his team: Hunter Pasteur VP of Development Omar Eid; Andy Milia and Ian Sakwa, of Franklin Construction; and Tim O’Brien, a project partner.

Project Manager Sakwa presented information about the status of the project site work.

The project is beginning with a 6-foot-tall fence and wind screen being installed around the redevelopment site, with a secure gate at the entrance on Center Street and “no trespassing” signs. City officials who need to inspect the site will be accompanied by the developer or a partner representative, Herkowitz said.

The demolition company, Renascent, will remove 19 buildings on the site and a small building on the track, along with the asphalt and concrete. These materials will be loaded into trucks and crushed off site. Water will be sprayed on the debris to help contain dust. Griffin Pest Solutions has been contracted to handle the pest control and has found small animals such as raccoons and porcupines on the site as well as mice but very few rats. Pest control will involve fumigating any underground tunnels and baiting with poison. Vermin are expected to remain within the confines of the screened fence during this process.

Midwest Environmental is the asbestos abatement contractor, charged with removing any asbestos identified in the asbestos survey. Before the buildings are demolished a third-party consultant, hired by the developer, will perform clearance testing to confirm all asbestos is removed and also conduct air quality monitoring. Water will be used on the debris to help prevent particles from becoming airborne.

A joint permit application is in process with EGLE and FEMA for the river daylighting. The new river bed will be graded and stabilized and then the culvert will be broken first at the south end then at the north end, allowing the encased river to flow into the new channel. Soil erosion permits are being obtained through Wayne County and inspections of the soil erosion control will be conducted by Franklin Construction.

The sidewalks on River, Center and Cady will remain open during demolition and construction.

Hours of operation will abide by city code, which is seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. At this stage, the developer doesn’t anticipate weekend work except for the occasional Saturday.

Both the city manager and developer said they want to keep information open and available to the public throughout the redevelopment process. Hunter Pasteur will maintain The Downs website, Northvilledowns.info, for the duration of the project and will regularly post project documents and updates. A copy of the presentation from the meeting will be posted on the website’s Public Documents section. HP has also established an email for citizen comments and observations.

At the end of the meeting, the developer and city answered questions from the public.

The developer plans to have a pre-construction meeting with the city soon and will also attend public sessions held by the city to provide construction updates to the public.

View the meeting audio recording on the city website.

Lahanas encouraged individuals to sign up for email notifications about the Downs demolition and construction, which will be delivered monthly or more frequently as the project gets underway. Articles will also appear in City News and on the city website, where a new landing page is being devoted to this project.