Ford Motor Company invites press, public to see its plans for the Michigan Central Depot building

Ford will renovate Michigan Central Station into a magnet for high-tech talent and a regional destination with retail, restaurants, residential living, modern work spaces and more. Conceptual rendering shown.

For long-time residents, newcomers and everyone in between who ever visited the iconic Michigan Central Depot, the reinvention of this grand building in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood is a joyful occasion.

Ford Motor Co., which is rehabbing the massive structure as a new campus for its autonomous team and other employees, is holding a huge welcome party of sorts Tuesday, June 19, to kick off its ownership of the Depot or station as some call it.

According to Ford, “It will be a historic day for Detroit, the auto industry and the future of Ford – the start of a new era of innovation and mobility.”

Ford executive chairman Bill Ford inside the company’s new office in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. Ford has acquired the iconic Michigan Central Station and plans to transform it into the centerpiece of a vibrant new campus in Corktown that will serve as an innovation hub for the company’s vison for the future of transportation.

 

The event, which has closed its official registration because of massive interest, will have an overflow area for the crowd in Roosevelt Park and nearby streets. There also will be public days for people to visit the first floor or entryway of the station on Friday and Saturday.

As the company announced last week, Ford Motor Company has acquired the iconic Michigan Central Station and plans to transform it into the centerpiece of a vibrant new campus in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The campus will serve as an innovation hub for Ford’s vision for the future of transportation.

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.

While in the early phase of conceptual plans, Ford sees opportunity for community groups and local businesses to be a thriving part of the Market Hall experience in Michigan Central Station. Conceptual rendering shown.

 

Highlights of Ford’s new Corktown campus include:
• The campus will be comprised of approximately 1.2 million square feet of property in Corktown
• This new development will serve the community with a mixed-use space including office space for office and retail space, and some residential housing
• Initial plans include locating approximately 2,500 Ford employees, most from the mobility team, to call Corktown their work home by 2022
• There will also be space to accommodate 2,500 additional employees of partners and other businesses amongst Michigan Central Station and the other developments
• Ford will share many more details about the Corktown project, as well as early visual renderings, at its event Tuesday. Details of the open house will be shared Tuesday.

Ford envisions the restoration of the main lobby in Michigan Central Station as a community gathering spot including a variety of local retail and restaurants offerings. Conceptual rendering shown.

 

“Michigan Central Station is a powerful symbol of Detroit’s struggles and now its resurgence, but Ford’s investment in Corktown is far from symbolic,” Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman, said in a statement. “We aren’t just making a bet on Detroit. We are making a big bet on the future for Ford and the future of transportation. It’s exciting to imagine what’s possible as we build tomorrow, together.”

Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 202,000 people worldwide.

Event details
Who: Bill Ford, Jim Hackett, Ford employees, government officials and community members
Where: Michigan Central Station, 2001 15th Street, Detroit
When: Tuesday, June 19, 11 a.m. (check-in opens at 10 a.m.)
Livestream link: http://www.dtvn.net/fordcorktown

 

Ford will renovate Michigan Central Station into a magnet for high-tech talent and a regional destination with retail, restaurants, residential living, modern work spaces and more. Conceptual rendering shown.