General Motors announced today it will invest $1 billion in its Warren Technical Center campus, creating approximately 2,600 new jobs at the National Historic Landmark site.
The multiyear project — which includes significant renovations of some existing facilities at the campus about 20 miles north of Detroit and expansion of some operations — will begin this month with work continuing through 2018.
The project “is positioning the company for long-term growth by enabling new levels of innovation and collaboration into our workplace,” Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development and Purchasing and Supply Chain, said in a press release.
Under current plans, the investment will create approximately 2,600 new GM salaried jobs in core areas like product engineering, IT and design, all areas critical to support future business growth. GM’s Warren Technical Center is currently home to more than 19,000 employees.
Investment highlights include:
- Construction of new design studios
- Construction of a parking deck for design employees
- Rebuilding and renovating some existing R&D facilities
- Construction of a multi-story IT building adjacent to the current Michigan IT Innovation Center and a new parking deck for Innovation Center employees
- Construction to accommodate additional testing areas at the Advanced Energy Center
- Extensive office upgrades, including new carpet, paint, furniture, reconfiguration of miscellaneous work areas in most Tech Center buildings, improving the work environment for all campus functions, including the Vehicle Engineering Center or VEC.
In addition, GM previously announced $139.5 million for body shop and stamping facility upgrades at its Warren Pre-Production Operations, part of a $5.4 billion investment in U.S. plants announced April 30.
Gov. Rick Snyder was thrilled with the news. "This is why we've focused so hard on creating the competitive economic climate for this kind of investment in our state," he said in a press release.
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said GM’s recent growth in the city has already brought proposals for new downtown investment. Downtown Warren is directly across the street from the Tech Center.
Initial construction on the 326-acre Tech Center began in 1949, and it opened in 1956. The campus was designed by world-renowned architect Eero Saarinen and landscape architect Thomas Church. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2014 by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. Fourteen years earlier, in 2000, the campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1986, the American Institute of Architects honored the Tech Center as the most outstanding architectural project of its era.
