DETROIT — General Motors will move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building next year and work to redevelop its iconic home along the Detroit River, company and city officials confirmed Monday.
GM CEO Mary Barra said the move to a brand new state-of-the-art office building in the heart of the city will help GM recruit talent in the future.
“We’re going to be in the heart of the city,” Barra said.
The main tower, the tallest building in Detroit, is 73 stories.
Barra said GM is open to ideas about the Renaissance Center complex, which the company bought nearly three decades ago.
Barra said GM, Bedrock and governments will explore residential, commercial and mixed uses for the iconic tower complex, known locally as the RenCen.
GM bought the tower complex in 1996 and later moved its headquarters there from a site north of downtown.
The Renaissance Center was built by Henry Ford II, who formed a coalition in the 1970s in an effort to reinvigorate Detroit’s downtown.
DETROIT — Company and city officials announced on Monday that General Motors will relocate its headquarters to a new downtown office building starting in the following year and begin work to renovate its famous residence along the Detroit River.
The announcement was made at the location of the former Hudson’s department store, which is being transformed into a 12-story office tower that will house GM and is being constructed by the Bedrock real estate company.
Bedrock will collaborate with GM, the city, and Wayne County to devise concepts for renovating the seven-building Renaissance Center, which serves as the company’s current global headquarters and a prominent feature of the city’s skyline that is frequently featured on televised sports programming.
Moving to a brand-new, cutting-edge office building in the middle of the city, according to GM CEO Mary Barra, will aid GM in attracting top talent in the future. The Renaissance Center is approximately one mile (1.66 kilometers) north of the new location. According to her, the relocation also ensures that GM’s corporate headquarters will remain in the city for the foreseeable future.
Barra declared, “We’re going to be in the center of the city.”. “Our people are eager to move to Detroit and make this their home. It will undoubtedly draw attention, in my opinion, to have this brand-new, contemporary workspace that truly suits the way people work today. “.
The office building on the Hudson’s site on Woodward Avenue, according to Bedrock Chairman Dan Gilbert, was planned and constructed to house a large corporation. Along America’s first paved road, he said, the building and the nearby tower will feature meeting rooms, shops, a five-star hotel, and residential space.
According to him, the move will support Detroit’s ongoing prosperity.
For the past century, Detroit and General Motors have come and gone together, and Mayor Mike Duggan is happy to announce that “GM and Detroit are rising together again.”. “.
The future of Renaissance Center, which housed General Motors during both its 2009 bankruptcy and near-death experience, is still unknown. However, the giant of the automotive industry will be ending an era with this move next year.
With 73 stories, the main tower is Detroit’s tallest structure.
The building’s GM workforce has decreased over time, particularly since the pandemic, and several of the building’s tenants have closed.
Regarding the Renaissance Center complex, which GM purchased almost thirty years ago, Barra stated that the company is receptive to suggestions. According to her, the company made over $1 billion in investments there. The building isn’t being sold right now, but it could in the future.
In the heart of the city, Bedrock owns and renovates a number of office buildings.
Barra stated that the government, Bedrock, and GM would investigate residential, commercial, and mixed-use options for the iconic tower complex, also referred to as the RenCen in the community.
Barra stated on Monday, “I am confident that together we can create a right future for that site.”.
Gilbert will be aware of what to do with the complex going forward, according to Duggan.
GM relocated its headquarters from a location north of downtown to the tower complex after purchasing it in 1996. The business has been based there ever since.
Bedrock has been driving the downtown revitalization for a number of years by acquiring properties. Additionally, Gilbert owns Rocket Mortgage, a lending company.
Barra confirmed to The Associated Press in a 2022 interview that GM will continue to operate its head office in the RenCen complex, which is located directly across the Detroit River from Canada.
However, she clarified that she was unable to forecast what might occur in the next five, ten, or fifteen years. Since then, roughly 5,000 GM white-collar employees have taken early retirement buyouts, and many more continue to work a hybrid office-home schedule, which reduces the amount of office space the company needs.
About one and a half of the towers in the RenCen, which have seen little foot traffic in years, are occupied by the company. An updated 1950s technical center in suburban Warren houses a large portion of General Motors’ workforce, including engineers and product developers. Following GM’s bankruptcy in 2009, the business explored relocating its headquarters there.
Henry Ford II led a coalition in the 1970s to revitalize Detroit’s downtown, and he constructed the Renaissance Center.
The Hudson’s tower is anticipated to house 1.5 million square feet of retail, office, dining, hospitality, and residential space. Bedrock announced last week that the last structural steel beam had been installed on the building.
