A rendering of what Ford's new campus, including Michigan Central Station, in Corktown will look like.
Ford recently unveiled its plan to move its electric and autonomous vehicle operations into a campus in southwest Detroit, anchored by a historic train station the company plans to refurbish during the next few years.
The move to reinvent the former Michigan Central Station was hailed by Detroit politicians and neighborhood advocates; however, other than a nebulous figure of $4 billion it planned to invest overall, no real dollar amount for the new campus was released.
Ford disclosed Tuesday at a meeting with community leaders it plans to spend $740 million to revamp Michigan Central Station, as well as other neighborhood sites. The automaker aims to turn the building into a campus of offices for up to 5,000 employees.
Most of those working in the newly revitalized building will be tech workers and software engineers focused on self-driving vehicles and ancillary technologies and services. The company also noted it hoped to get as much as $250 million in financial assistance on the project.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett, left, and Chairman Bill Ford celebrate the plan to refurbish the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.
(Ford plants Blue Oval in Detroit. Click Here for details.)
The company said Tuesday in a statement, according to Reuters, it is “working with federal, state and local economic development groups and officials, seeking at least $250 million in tax or other incentives to support the development of the five Corktown sites Ford has purchased.”
Ford noted the development of the train station and developing 45 acres of vacant land will take place over the next four years.
(Click Here for more about Ford’s plans for the historic Detroit rail station.)
Reuters reported the $740 million includes acquiring the buildings and land as well as rehabilitation costs “which takes into account the requirements of restoring a historic building such as the train station,” the company said.
The project costs do not require additional capital beyond what it previously committed as part of its overall 10-year campus plan in 2016, the automaker said. The company plans to invest $4 billion to its EV and AV efforts.
(What’s going on at “The Factory”? Click Here for more on Ford’s other new project.)
The train station closed in 1988 and fell into disrepair; however, Ford has already purchased and rehabbed one building, now called The Factory, that currently houses employees working Ford’s AV program.