Ford begins forging major new campus in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is in talks with multiple property owners in the Corktown neighborhood near downtown Detroit in an effort that would create a sweeping campus consisting of dozens of individual properties, including both buildings and parcels of land, in the area, Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News, has learned.

With the abandoned Michigan Central Station as the campus' anchor, Ford is also nearing deals to buy properties ranging from small retail buildings and slivers of land to large warehouses, according to a half-dozen sources who have been briefed on the discussions with property owners.

The automaker, which employs 48,000 in Michigan, is expected to reveal its intention to buy and redevelop the dilapidated Michigan Central Station in Corktown next month, according to four other sources familiar with the campus discussions.

An announcement of what could be the most transformational Detroit development plan in more than a decade may come May 10, one of the sources said. The other sources were unable to verify that date, which is also when Ford's annual shareholder meeting is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m., but did say that next month is the target.

The project is not set in stone. The Moroun family, which has owned the train station for decades and some of the other properties folded into the plan, are known as tough negotiators, meaning the discussions could collapse and the depot could remain in the family's hands.

Ford already has revealed its intent to occupy The Factory at Corktown on Michigan Avenue and put 220 autonomous/electric vehicle workers in the 45,000-square-foot building. But close to 50 properties, including the train station and small vacant lots, have been linked to Ford in the five weeks since Crain's first reported the company's discussions with the Moroun family.

"We are excited about our return to Detroit this year with our electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle teams relocating to the Factory in Corktown," Dawn Booker, a spokeswoman for Ford Land Development Corp., the real estate arm for Ford Motor Co., said in a statement.

"While we anticipate our presence over time will grow as our AV/EV teams move downtown, we have nothing further to announce at this time."

The result of the property assembly would be a large campus spread across at least 1.1 million square feet of building space sitting on at least 21 acres. That's the equivalent in size of 11 large retail stores.

Almost all the properties are in the area generally bounded by Vernor Highway, 14th Street, the I-75 service drive, Trumbull Avenue, Rosa Parks Boulevard and Bagley Avenue.

Among them: The Detroit Athletic Co. building on Michigan Avenue, the Moroun-owned former Detroit Public Schools book depository and The Alchemy building on Rosa Parks Boulevard. A series of dozens of vacant parcels immediately north of the Bobcat Bonnie's restaurant totaling almost 5 acres are also in play.

Multiple messages have been left the last several weeks with some of the owners.

The train station discussions have continued for months. Crain's Detroit Business reporters have seen workers for the past several weeks at the building with scaffolding and a construction platform erected on its western side. A spokesman for the Moroun family said last month the crews were doing inspections but declined to provide any additional details about the nature of the inspections. The equipment has since been removed.

It's not known how, if at all, the Corktown campus would impact Ford's effort to transform its Dearborn headquarters in what two years ago was a planned $1 billion, 10-year effort to consolidate employees and renovate many of its buildings there. Ford World Headquarters is 9.1 miles west of Michigan Central Station on Michigan Avenue. 

If Ford's plan comes to fruition, the total capital expense could near or surpass that amount; local and state tax incentives would likely be involved.

The company also is in the process of re-evaluating its 10-year Dearborn campus transformation plan, pegged by some as worth $1 billion.

Detroit-based SmithGroupJJR had completed its work on a master plan for the project, but when CEO Jim Hackett replaced Mark Fields, a team consisting of Oslo-based Snohetta Architects and New York City-based Gensler, which has an office in downtown Detroit, was brought in to re-evaluate the plan, according to two sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.

Requests for comment were sent to the Moroun family, which built its empire in the trucking industry. CBRE Inc., which represents Ford on much of its real estate dealings, declined comment.