GM reportedly moving out of its Detroit headquarters towers

Something’s happening with General Motors’ headquarters buildings, and it may mean they’ll no longer be GM’s headquarters buildings.

The Associated Press is reporting that GM and real estate firm Bedrock will jointly study how to redevelop the automaker’s huge headquarters tower complex in downtown Detroit, a person briefed on the plans said.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, is reporting that GM will leave the facility, moving its headquarters up Woodward Avenue and into the Hudson’s building, a new 1.5 million-square-foot project being developed by billionaire Dan Gilbert, chairman of Rocket Mortgage and founder of Bedrock. 

Bloomberg said that for GM, the deal means the automaker will be a long-term fixture in the revival of Detroit’s downtown, which Gilbert has been spearheading by acquiring and developing 45 major office, retail and hospitality properties. It also gives Gilbert an anchor tenant for the office portion of the $1.4 billion Hudson’s building.

GM CEO Mary Barra and Gilbert are hosting a press conference at the Hudson’s building at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Monday, when they are expected to announce the move.

But AP had a somewhat more cautious take on events. Its source said that the two will discuss redeveloping the Renaissance Center, and that the plan does not involve GM selling the complex, which is an icon in Detroit’s skyline.

Gilbert has previously held conversations with GM about purchasing the Renaissance Center prior to the pandemic, although those discussions never resulted in a deal. The RenCen, the region’s largest office complex, has suffered during the pandemic. 

The Hudson’s site last week got its official name and officially topped out. Its tower will be the second-tallest building in Detroit behind the Renaissance Center.

In a 2022 interview, Barra told The Associated Press that GM would keep its main office in the complex just across the Detroit River from Canada. But she qualified her statements back then, saying she couldn’t predict what might happen in five, 10 or 15 years. Since then, about 5,000 white-collar workers at GM took early retirement buyouts, and many workers are still on a hybrid office-home work schedule, so GM needs less office space.

In fact, the company now takes up only about 1½ of the RenCen’s seven towers/buildings, which have seen little pedestrian traffic for years. Much of GM’s workforce, including product development and engineering, is north of the city at an updated 1950s technical center in suburban Warren. After GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, the company considered moving the headquarters there.

“As we move to having more of a hybrid work structure, we have to look at what’s the right space,” Barra said in 2022.

She also hinted in the interview that GM would explore riverfront development opportunities with the city.

The Renaissance Center was built by Henry Ford II, who formed a coalition in the 1970s in an effort to reinvigorate Detroit’s downtown. GM bought the complex in 1996 and renovated it, moving its headquarters there from an area north of downtown.

Contains Associated Press and Bloomberg.