Ford recently confirmed its interest in purchasing Michigan Central Station in Corktown. According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Edsel Ford II said the company’s board of directors was made aware of plans to purchase the infamously abandoned station as part of a redevelopment of Corktown. The building is currently owned by the family of billionaire Manuel Moroun.
The station, its 230-foot-tall, 18-floor office tower, and the 110,000-sf concourse have been vacant since 1988. Despite recent improvements, such as the installation of 1,100 new windows at a cost of $8 million, the abandoned facility would require a substantial reconstruction and renovation effort to get it back to working order.
See Also: Ford begins 10-year plan to centralize Dearborn, Mich., campus
Ford has already purchased a building in Corktown and wants to establish a campus in the area to have its autonomous and electric vehicle units in one spot. The interest in purchasing Michigan Central Station to spur a redevelopment in the Corktown area could be an attempt to attract young talent to support the company’s more future-forward goals, i.e. its autonomous and electric vehicle plans.
Michigan Central Station has been the focus of many potential restoration projects, but, to this point, none have been able to move passed the negotiation phase.
Update
Ford has officially purchased Michigan Central Station. According to the Detroit Free Press, the campus will become the hub of a new campus focused on advanced automotive technology. Ford also purchased the neighboring book depository building, also owned by the Morouns. More details about Ford's plans for the site will be revealed at a media event on June 19th.
Related Stories
| Dec 27, 2013
U.S. Capitol dome’s cracks to be repaired during $60 million renovation
Rings of scaffolding will start to rise this spring around the cast-iron dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington as part of a $60 million renovation project to repair more than 1,300 cracks.
| Dec 16, 2013
Major renovation for historic Northwestern Building in Minneapolis
Minneapolis’s Northwestern Building, originally built in 1914 as a glass factory, is undergoing a major renovation. The 85,000-sf, four-story building is now serves as office space for multiple tenants in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood.
| Dec 9, 2013
Bethlehem, Pa., receives preservation award for Bethlehem Steel building renovation
Bethlehem, Pa., is a recipient of a 2013 award by Preservation Pennsylvania for a renovation of the oldest building on the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. site.
| Dec 3, 2013
Historic Daytona International Speedway undergoing $400 million facelift
The Daytona International Speedway is zooming ahead on the largest renovation in the Florida venue’s 54-year history. Improvements include five redesigned guest entrances, an extended grandstand with 101,000 new seats, and more than 60 new trackside suites for corporate entertaining.
| Dec 2, 2013
Army Corps of Engineers workers displaced during renovation of federal building in Huntington, W. Va.
A $47.6 million overhaul of the Huntington Federal Building in Huntington, West Virginia, includes altered traffic lanes on adjoining streets and the displacement of some of the more than 500 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees who work in the building.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 27, 2013
University reconstruction projects: The 5 keys to success
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the environmental, economic, and market pressures affecting facility planning for universities and colleges, and outlines current approaches to renovations for critical academic spaces.
| Nov 25, 2013
Plans for massive redevelopment of Ft. Monmouth in New Jersey likely to be revised
The redevelopment of Fort Monmouth, a former New Jersey army base, is likely to be revised on a building-by-building and parcel-by-parcel basis, officials say.
| Nov 18, 2013
Office design trends spurring office building renovations in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Key office design trends such as downsizing of overall space, more open floor plans, and the inclusion of more collaborative workspaces are prompting property owners in Grand Rapids, Mich., to renovate thousands of square feet of office space.
| Nov 11, 2013
Reconstruction of historic Salzburg, Austria railroad station took complex planning
Salzburg, Austria’s Central Station remained in operation during reconstruction, a feat that required complex planning.
