GM to launch major renovation of Renaissance Center HQ this summer

General Motors plans this summer to launch a large-scale renovation of its Detroit headquarters, the Renaissance Center.

The 120,000-square-foot renovation calls for extending the section of the front complex housing the People Mover station to Jefferson Avenue, Tim Mahoney, chief marketing officer for Chevrolet, said during a media briefing today.  

The 8,000-square-foot addition will include a 70-foot-wide by 80-foot-long exterior video screen and reconfiguration and expansion of what is now the "GM World" vehicle display space to a larger area with interactive exhibits and the potential, Mahoney said, to host vehicle unveilings in the future.

He declined to discuss the cost of the project or projected investment in it.

“One of the things about brands and marketing is ... storytelling ... (and) one of the platforms for telling our story is our headquarters,” Mahoney said.

“We really believe when it’s finished, this will one of those destinations you want to come see when you’re in Detroit.”

The Renaissance Center, he said, is “the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower here in Detroit.”

Developed with GM’s design team, Neumann Smith Architecture and EWI Worldwide, the project is set to be completed before the end of 2018. GM is in final negotiations to name a contractor for the project.

As envisioned, the project will renovate the center court space that is now the “GM World” area, along with the former movie theater space and the level below it to create a new, five-story atrium show space that includes the new addition.

The addition will wrap around the People Mover track in front of the GMRenCen, said Daniel Schneider, project manager at Neumann Smith. And it will include a new GM retail store, said Claudia Killeen, manager, Renaissance Center Development for GM. “We get a lot of requests for that.”

The new GM exhibit space, which is destined for a new name, as well, will include:

• Interior updates to the central area will aim to create a more open and inviting gathering space.
• Curated spaces will feature rotating vehicles displays, mixing heritage models, concepts and current products.
• Interactive experiences will combine physical and digital elements, educating the public about GM’s brands and the design and engineering process.

Development history

Announced by Henry Ford II in 1973, the Renaissance Center’s first tower opened in 1976, and by the following year, four towers around a central hotel tower were fully constructed and opened, according to the GMRenCen website.

The 73-story, central hotel tower today operates as the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center and is the tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere.

Last year, the Detroit Marriott completed a $30 million renovation of its own, updating its 1,329 guest rooms and meeting space.

Towers 500 and 600, developed through a separate venture by subsidiaries of Ford Motor Land Development Corp., opened in 1981.

GM projects

GM purchased the Renaissance Center as its global headquarters in 1996 and by 2004 had completed $500 million in renovations, according to its website. 

Improvements included the installation of an interior glass circulation ring -- a 12-foot walkway suspended from the ceiling to provide easier navigation of the retail and office towers -- and conversion of areas that formerly housed a parking garage, swimming pool and fitness center into the five-story, 50,000-square-foot Wintergarden, which opened in 2001.

In December, 2004, GM presented the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy with the deed to the GM portion of the Detroit riverwalk known as GM Plaza.