DETROIT — Employees of Ford Motor Co., city and state officials and Corktown residents gathered on Tuesday at Michigan Central Station for a celebration during which the auto giant officially announced its plan to breathe new life into the former train depot.
Ford plans to transform the long-vacant property into a new Corktown campus for work on autonomous and electric vehicles, as well as design urban mobility services and solutions that includes smart, connected vehicles, roads, parking and public transit.
“We at Ford want to help write the next chapter, working together in Corktown with the best startups, the smartest talent, and the thinkers, engineers, and problem-solvers who see things differently — all to shape the future of mobility and transportation,” said Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman.
The acquisition of Michigan Central Station comes alongside the company’s purchase of the former Detroit Public Schools Book Depository, two acres of vacant land, the site of an old brass factory and the recent purchase of a refurbished former factory in Corktown, now home to Ford’s electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle business teams.
Ford’s campus will span at least 1.2 million square feet of space in Corktown. Approximately 2,500 Ford employees, most from the mobility team, will call Corktown their work home by 2022. The remaining 300,000 square feet will serve as a mix of community and retail space, as well as residential housing. Project costs were not disclosed.