GM Investing $1 Billion In Iconic Warren Technical Center

General Motors will be investing a massive $1 billion in its iconic Warren Technical Center and will be adding approximately 2,600 jobs over the next four years.

“This is an investment in our people who work at the Tech Center because it is positioning the company for long-term growth by enabling new levels of innovation and collaboration,” said Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president for global product development. “We will transform this campus into a collaborative workplace of choice for our current team and future talent.”

When it first opened in 1956, the Warren Technical Center was the largest corporate building project in the world, encompassing more than a mile square on a 710-acre complex. It currently has over 19,000 employees and includes 38 buildings, 38.3 acres of lakes and pools and 174 acres of parking space. However, the aging center is now badly in need of a makeover.

“When you walk across the street and into our lab and test facility there, that is not something I’m proud of,” Reuss said. “So those are the opportunities to really go in there and clean house and get it right and get our laboratories and R&D piece of it state-of-the-art once again.”

GM explains the $1 billion project will include building new design studios, a parking deck for design staff and the renovation of existing research and development offices. The initiative will also include the construction of a new multi-story IT building adjacent to the current Michigan IT Innovation Center. The renovation project will begin this month and continue through 2018.

“This reflects what we need on this campus over the next 15 to 20 years to create a vision of how we design transportation for the world,” said Reuss. He explained that employees will need to be patient through this transition, and many of them will have to move to temporary offices during the renovations.

“I am very excited about the investment in the GM Tech Center in Warren, which means more jobs and new revenue for police and fire services,” said Warren’s Mayor Jim Fouts.

The 2,600 new jobs will include positions in vehicle engineering, information technology and design, and will provide a big stimulus for the city of Warren.

Heavy rains last August caused $132 million of flood damage to the tech center, so a substantial percentage of the new investment will be used to restore labs, offices and underground tunnels.

“Design was particularly hit hard,” said Reuss. “There’s an innovative tunnel system connecting most of these buildings and those were hit hard. Things like boiler systems that were literally from the 1950s need to be updated.”

GM’s Technical Center is well respected for its role in history and is celebrated for its central place in the future of the automaker. Many auto industry legends spent significant portions of their careers in Warren, including transportation design pioneer Harley Earl and acclaimed automotive executive Bob Lutz.

“This place was revolutionary when it started and nearly 60 years later, it’s going to continue to be a revolutionary place,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said during a news conference. Pointing to decreasing unemployment numbers in the state, he said that “when you hear about those numbers and results it is because of companies like GM creating jobs.”