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“We will revisit the southern portion later,” Wertheimer said, adding that demolition of the track would begin in the first quarter of 2021 if all goes according to plan.

In April, Hunter Pasteur said it was under contract to buy the 48-acre property near Sheldon Road and Hines Drive. The Carlo family owns some of the track’s acreage, and an investment group called Northville Driving Club Corp. owns the rest. The Carlos are minority shareholders in that entity.

Mike Carlo deferred comment to Hunter Pasteur, although he said via email that the family starts “live racing this weekend (March 22nd) and we are looking forward to another great racing season at Northville Downs.”

The property purchase for an undisclosed price has not yet been finalized, Wertheimer said.

“We had the ability to close in two stages because we knew this was a possibility,” he said. “As soon as we get site plan approval on the northern portion, we’ll start construction.”

Wertheimer said the community, which has about 6,000 residents, is going through an appropriate planning process considering the size of the project.

“This is a big change for them. This is a huge real estate deal that will increase the population by 15-20 percent — we are talking about adding 900-1,000 residents. I understand why it’s taking a long time,” he said.

Northville Downs, Michigan’s last horse track since Hazel Park Raceway closed a year ago, will remain open until the development begins. The track’s owners said they will seek to continue racing and wagering operations “at an area in close proximity to its current location,” according to the statement from Hunter Pasteur Homes released in April.

A message seeking comment was left for Northville city officials.

Eight Michigan horse tracks have closed since 1998 as the public has instead opted to spend money at the commercial and tribal casinos across the state, and because the lottery expanded and online forms of gambling have proliferated.

Northville Downs can trace its roots to 1902. A driving club was formed in 1907 to manage land in Northville that had been turned into a rudimentary fairgrounds horse track in 1902. Michigan didn’t create a formal pari-mutuel harness racing law until 1933, and Northville Downs became the entity it is today in 1944.

The track business itself leases the land from the Northville Driving Club on an annual basis, and any sale would require both the club and family to jointly sell. Northville Downs gets a handful of offers every year from developers interested in buying some or all of the track’s acreage, Carlo told Crain’s last year.