GM to move headquarters to downtown Detroit, redevelop old office

DETROIT, Michigan: This week, General Motors (GM) said it will move its Detroit headquarters to a new downtown office building in 2024 and redevelop its iconic current home building along the Detroit River.

The company’s announcement was made at the site, which was the old Hudson’s department store and is being developed by Bedrock Real Estate into a tower and 12-story office building.

Bedrock and GM, along with the city and Wayne County, will decide on how to rebuild the seven-building Renaissance Center, GM’s current world headquarters and a famous landmark on the city’s skyline.

"The move to a brand-new state-of-the-art office building in the heart of the city will help GM recruit talent in the future," said CEO Mary Barra.

"We are going to be in the heart of the city," she said.

The office building on Hudson’s site on Woodward Avenue was designed and built to house a major corporation, and the move will enable Detroit to continue to thrive, Bedrock Chairman Dan Gilbert said.

Mayor Mike Duggan said GM and Detroit have risen and fallen together for the past century, stressing he is pleased to say that "GM and Detroit are rising together again."

The main tower of the Renaissance Center is the tallest building in Detroit at 73 stories.

Barra said that GM is open to ideas about the Renaissance Center complex, which the company bought nearly three decades ago and invested more than $1 billion there.

She added that it is not selling the building at present, but that is possible.

Bedrock owns multiple office buildings throughout downtown Detroit and has renovated many of them.

The Renaissance Center was built by Henry Ford II, who formed a coalition in the 1970s to reinvigorate Detroit’s downtown.