Our mission is: “Ensure a safe and prosperous environment that advances technology, healthcare, retail and higher education while supporting stakeholder values that care, share, and grow the community.”

Defining the DDA

The Southfield Downtown Development Authority (SDDA) was originally formed in 1998 with the purpose of halting property value deterioration, eliminating the causes of deterioration, and promoting economic growth. The Authority was restated in 2017. The District does not constitute a traditional downtown; however, it does combine many residents, some of the City’s largest employers with Henry Ford Southfield Providence Hospital, and many office spaces. The District was previously supported by the historic retail center, Northland Center, but as shopping trends shifted the Center closed and is in the process of being redeveloped. The Southfield Downtown Development District is well positioned to become a thriving community center. With its blend of residential communities, anchor employment, and burgeoning redevelopment the District can provide a unique blend of urban center and suburban convenience.

The Southfield Downtown Development District is well positioned to become a thriving community center. With its blend of residential communities, anchor employment, and burgeoning redevelopment the District can provide a unique blend of urban center and suburban convenience. Its central location in the Metro-Detroit community and extensive connections via highway, bus, and connecting trails, including the 9 Line, set it apart and provide the seeds from which positive change can grow.

The SDDA has been taking steps along this path of reinvention in recent years. The SDDA has partnered with the City to address blight with redevelopment, securing Brownfield Redevelopment funding to support the Northland City Center, and continued to build events and programming that support business owners, residents, and visitors to the District. This document builds on these recent successes and coordinates with ongoing planning efforts and initiatives in the City. It outlines a framework for building and programming an active downtown district, providing a framework that is both visionary and implementable.

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Growth in the DDA

Here are just a few of the facts that represent the continued growth of the Southfield DDA:

  • Since 1999, more than $160 million in development and redevelopment has taken place, along with $1 million in public improvements and landscaping.
  • Providence Hospital is Southfield’s largest employer with more than 3,400 staff members and 1,500 physicians.
  • The $4 million, 10,000 square-Foot Northland Park Dialysis Center occupies four acres.
  • Northland Shopping Center was the first enclosed shopping mall in America.
  • Oakland Community College (OCC) has completed a $25 million expansion and renovation to its Southfield campus to accommodate its fast-growing Allied Health program.
  • Downtown Southfield sits in the middle of an important regional trade area with nearly 224,000 households.
  • More than 190,000 square feet of medical office space is located in the district.
  • Health Alliance Plan, one of the state’s largest HMOs, has more than 600 employees occupying 85 percent of Southfield’s Tower 14 Office Center.