General Motors HQ relocating from RenCen to Hudson's site in 2025
DETROIT (FOX 2) - General Motors is staying in Detroit, but moving to another iconic building down the road.
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra and Bedrock Chairman Dan Gilbert announced that the automaker's global headquarters will relocate in 2025 from the Renaissance Center to the historic J.L. Hudson's department store site – now known as Hudson's Detroit.
"It's important to all of us at GM that we continue to call Detroit our home for a long time to come," Barra said. "For GM, Hudson's Detroit is a perfect fit. We will be the signature tenant of the state-of-the-art building. We'll have some space to display our vehicles and host events, with all the modern amenities you'll imagine from a developer like Bedrock.
"It will be our corporate headquarters, our nerve center and a collaborative space for our employees, and it's located in the heart of downtown on an important historic site that Detroiters hold dear."
The announcement was made during a news conference on Monday at Hudson's Detroit, which remains under construction until later this year.
"Hudson's will soon be the global headquarters of one of America's most beloved brands, and Detroit's very own General Motors. From the beginning, we understood the significance of Hudson's to our city, which is why we designed it to be more than just building," Gilbert said. "We wanted it to be a place that would attract the best companies and the best talent from all over the world."
Once completed, the new tower on Woodward Avenue will offer 1.5 million square feet in retail, office, dining, hospitality, residential, and venue space.
"The building will have it all – state-of-the-art exhibition and meeting spaces, luxury hotel, living amenities, exciting restaurants and bars, and destination shopping," Gilbert said. "This is a special milestone. It is proof that when Detroit comes to the together, we can get things done. …Welcome to Hudson's, GM."
The new deal between GM and Bedrock received great praise from officials like Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
"This is a special day for a lot of reasons. The last time I was on this site was January, in 1983. I came over here the last week Hudson's was opened to buy a Christmas ornament before they closed," Duggan said. "It was a day of sadness, and we're here today in a day of great joy. General Motors has been headquartered here for more than 100 years, and GM and Detroit have risen and fallen in that century together."
Duggan added that the relocation is "good for the city" and "good for every GM worker who gets to work out of (the) beautiful building."
As for the seven-building Renaissance Center, which is still owned by GM, plans for what it could be used for are still being discussed.
"We will partner with Bedrock, and the city of Detroit, and Wayne County to plot a new path forward for our current home, the General Motors Renaissance Center, over the course of the next year or so," Barra said. "We'll explore new ideas for the complex, including the possibilities for commercial, or residential or mixed-use."
Gilbert's Bedrock has been buying up properties downtown for many years and has led its rebirth. He also runs loan company Rocket Mortgage.
"I know that with GM, and Bedrock, and the county, and the city working together – we are going to find the right solution for the long-term use of the Renaissance Center. Nobody knows more about reusing buildings than Dan Gilbert," Duggan said. "I'm not sure what the right combination of uses is, but we have the right leaders."
AP News contorbuted to this report.
