Ford Motor Co. is restoring the historic Michigan Central Station train depot to be the centerpiece of the Michigan Central Innovation District, a development in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood where innovators from around the world plans to develop, test and launch new urban transportation ideas.
The effort earned the project a 2023 CoStar Impact Award for redevelopment of the year in Detroit, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Ford has spent roughly $740 million over the past four years redeveloping this area, including spending $90 million in 2018 to purchase the long-vacant, 472,000-square-foot Michigan Central Station for its new Corktown campus. The project represents the first major mixed-use expansion south of Detroit’s central business district in years, with the completed development also slated to bring more retail, restaurants, hospitality and public amenities to the market in addition to office space for Ford employees and partners in innovation projects.
Along with Ford, Google is one of the founding members of the Michigan Central Innovation District, where the convergence of the automotive and tech sectors can create meaningful synergies. The company's self-driving unit, Waymo, announced a partnership with Ford in 2021, with the Google deal expected to help draw other tech operators to the project.
About the project: About 5,000 workers are expected to fill the building and surrounding 30-acre mobility and innovation campus. The renovation of the former Michigan Central Station, which originally opened in 1913, is expected to be completed later this year after having sat vacant since 1988 when use fell dramatically and Amtrak ended service to the site. Its closure and subsequent fall into disrepair have been cited as an international symbol of Detroit's decline, though its redevelopment has been touted as a sign of the city's rebirth.
What the judges said: "The Michigan Central Station positions Detroit and Ford as a major tech hub," said Luke Bonner, CEO of Bonner Advisory Group. "The focus on renovation of an iconic landmark into the technology platform for Ford is incredible and hopefully becomes the standard for tech campus redevelopments in Detroit."
"This is a landmark for the city of Detroit," said Dominic Shamany, managing director of Legacy Commercial Real Estate Advisors. "The redevelopment of this historic property is needed here in the heart of the Corktown area to make it stand out and sit along with all of the restaurants, housing and shopping that has come into this part of town."
They made it happen: Ford Motor Co. owns the project. The Christman Co. is the developer. Quinn Evans and PAU are the architects. Jennifer Hurt and Julie Van Devender of Ford Land Development are the primary leasing agents.
