The new Wayne County Jail, a $300 million state-of-the-art jail facility, broke ground on September 15 in downtown Detroit. Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Sheriff Benny Napoleon were both in attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony to offer remarks about the unique facility, which will adopt best-practice technologies to save the county approximately $20 million per year while creating a safer environment for its employees and inhabitants. Housing 2,192 beds, the 715,000 sq. ft. facility will consolidate prisoners from three existing jails.

Ghafari is partnered with AECOM to provide full architecture, engineering and program management services for the project, one of the largest construction initiatives undertaken by the county in several years. Ghafari President & CEO Kouhaila Hammer and Vice President Ron Moran attended the groundbreaking ceremony on behalf of the firm.