Downtown Retail Market Study

Downtown Retail Market Study
(Full Version with attachments, 6.2MB .pdf file)

Note: For slower connections, view the Downtown Retail Market Study by making a selection below:

Part 1 Part 1	Market Study (with pictures) Market Study (text only)	2.9MB 152K
Attachments:
Part 2	Daytime Employment Report Existing Downtown Retail	74K
Part 3	Household Income Level Map	1.7MB
Part 4	Population Increase Map	1.7MB
Part 5	Census Demographics Overview Consumer Spending Patterns Demographics Trend Recommended Retail - New Infrastructure	148K

Click here to view Public Comments from the 2/1/05 and 2/3/05 Public Meetings.
Click here to view the Final Report of the Downtown Steering Committee.

In July 2005 the Northville Downtown Development Authority retained Gibbs Planning Group to update the 1997 Commercial Planning Study for downtown Northville. The proposed updated Commercial Planning Study was viewed by the DDA as a valuable tool in the DDA’s efforts to determine future growth of the downtown and to identify optimal parking solution for that growth.

Bob Gibbs, President of Gibbs Planning Group, held over 20 focus groups with community members, met with elected officials and staff, interviewed numerous business owners, and conducted extensive market research as part of his planning effort. Gibbs work was completed this fall, and on December 9, 2004 he presented his findings to the DDA at a public meeting attended by over 60 people. If you were not able to attend the public meeting, copies of the Gibbs presentation are available free on DVD, and can be picked up at the front desk at City Hall. In addition, copies of the DRAFT Gibbs report are available free at City Hall, or you can review the document by clicking on the links at the top of this page.

The Gibbs report did not make any recommendations on Northville’s growth, rather his report outlined 3 growth models and explained the benefits and cost of each model. Gibbs intentionally left the answer to the growth question up to the community to determine. To assist in the process, the Mayor appointed a Steering Committee to help direct the effort. The Committee is comprised of representatives of various City and Township organizations. The members are:

Chairperson Joan Wadsworth, Board of Education
Greg Presley, DDA member
Lynda Heaton, building owner in the downtown area and DDA member
Jody Humphries, President, Chamber of Commerce
David Cole, downtown business owner
James Allen, Northville City Planning Commission member
Marc Russell, Northville City Planning Commission
Tom Gudritz, Northville Historic District Commission
Martha Nield, Northville Township resident
Ken Roth, Northville Board of Education
Dick Allen, Township Planning Commission, Northville Township resident

The goal of the Steering Committee is “to facilitate the development of a viable vision for the future of downtown Northville. The Committee will share information from the Gibbs study and other sources and facilitate learning and discussion in order to develop consensus within the community about future downtown development. The final work product will be a broad vision of downtown development which could be adopted by the DDA, City Council, and others as a guide for their development activities.”

To achieve these goals, two public meetings to discuss the future of downtown and to share information from the Gibbs report were held on Tuesday, February 1^st and Thursday, February 3^rd at the Senior Community Center. Over 230 people participated in the two public meetings.

Following the pubic meetings, the Steering Committee has continued to meet review and assemble comments received at the two public meetings, in suggestion boxes placed at the meetings, and emails sent to the Steering Committee members and the DDA pertaining to the development of downtown Northville. To review the complete list of the compiled comments click here.

The Steering Committee held a follow-up public meeting on March 9, 2005 to share with elected officials, business and property owners, and interested individuals the information that had been collected to date. Also, at the public meeting the Steering Committee hoped to get feedback from the various stakeholders and to decide next steps in the planning process. To view the Final Report of the Steering Committee, please click here.

If you have any questions or comments, or want to know how you can get involved, please contact DDA Director Lori Ward at 248-349-0345 or loriwarddda@aol.com.