General Motors is expected to announce Monday afternoon that it will move its global headquarters in downtown Detroit from the Renaissance Center on Detroit’s waterfront to the Detroit Building on the Hudson.
A person familiar with the plan confirmed that he insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Hudson site on Woodward Avenue is a new 1.5 million-square-foot development from Petroc, the real estate firm of Dan Gilbert, president of mortgage lender Rocket Co. Inc. The project’s skyscraper topped 681 feet last week. Second tallest building in Detroit, behind the Renaissance Center’s Central Tower.
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GM spokesman Kevin Kelly declined to comment on the expected news, as first reported Monday by Bloomberg and The Associated Press.
GM CEO Mary Barra and Gilbert will hold a press conference in the building at 4:30 p.m. After that, he is expected to announce that GM will vacate its space in the Renaissance Center office tower, where it has been headquartered since 1996. That’s when the automaker bought five of the seven towers for US$73 million. According to the Detroit Historical Society. Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate said it bought the 500 and 600 Rensen towers in December for an undisclosed price from a New Jersey dealership that had owned them for years.
AP reports that GM and Gilbert plan to figure out how to redevelop GM’s RenCen headquarters, but the plan does not include selling RenCen. The information was confirmed by the Free Press, which is familiar with the project.
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The GM order helped companies in RenCen
Rensen is Detroit’s most recognizable building, and the shiny GM logo atop it serves as a beacon on the city skyline, reflecting the spirit of Detroit. When the logo went dark in November 2023, social media went into a frenzy with speculation that GM had left the building. But GM replaced the lights as part of routine maintenance at the time, the Free Press reports.
GM used the RenCen logo to celebrate and mourn with the city.
In August 2018, the automaker and its luxury brand Cadillac paid tribute to Motown legend Aretha Franklin by lighting pink lanterns with the word “Honor” on top of the building following her death. Pink is the title of his hit “Pink Cadillac” and “Respect” is his 1967 classic hit. In 2011, GM changed Rensen’s jersey to red and white to salute the Red Wings after winning a playoff game. Wing symbol. That same year, an Old English “D” first appeared on the opening day of the Tigers. After Prince’s death in 2016, GM Rensen lit the top purple to honor the musician.
Most recently, GM lit up the top of the building in support of the Detroit Lions’ playoff run in January.
The Hudson site consists of two adjacent buildings: an 11- or 12-story “office block” with more than 500,000 square feet of office, retail and event space, and a 49-story skyscraper expected to be ultra-luxurious. Edition Hotel and about 100 apartments and condominiums. The Hudson site plan was launched in December 2017 and the buildings could be largely completed by the end of the year.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Renchen’s daily workforce has been reduced, with many GM employees who previously occupied offices there working from home. Earlier this year, GM ordered its workers to come in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays every week, to help restaurants and other businesses that rely on office workers for their day-to-day business.
Steve Ali, owner of Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill, located in the lower-level Rensen food court, said Monday that the news that GM plans to pull out of Rensen was “shocking to say the least.”
Last month, Ali and other restaurant owners in the food court told the Detroit Free Press that business has slowed since the GM ordered people to work in the office three days a week.
“I expect a gradual improvement in the number of tenants there over the course of the year,” Ali told the Free Press on Monday. “I don’t see it coming. That will not stand us in good stead. This is very shocking and disappointing. I don’t know where that leaves us – even if they rebuild it, it will be a long time before it becomes four towers again.
But the news is being received with enthusiasm across the city. Mootz Pizzeria + Bar is a restaurant on Library Street, behind the new Hudson Tower. Walter Gregorio, director of Mootz, called GM’s action “extraordinary.”
“I think it’s fantastic for GM,” Gregorio said. “GM is getting a new location and that’s great for us.”
Moots owner and partner Tony Sacco said GM’s action “will help downtown.”
The number of Rensen workers has been reduced
It’s unclear, and GM isn’t saying how many GM employees are currently assigned to work at Rensen. As of October 2021, Free Press Renzen employs approximately 5,000 staff, although many work remotely.
GM website Rensen said 857 employees were employed at the start of March. GM spokeswoman Tara Kuhnen said at the time that the numbers had not been updated to reflect the increase since the back-to-office policy took effect in January, but declined to provide updated numbers. According to a screenshot of GM’s website dated Oct. 3, 2023, obtained by the Free Press, GM lists 1,320 employees assigned to RenCen.
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Kuhnen confirmed that a “small number” of employees have moved to other locations in Southeast Michigan in recent years due to the growth of the industry and hybrid work arrangements, but he declined to provide a specific number.
Detroit vacancy rate
Steve Morris, a partner at Axis Advisors in Farmington Hills, said GM’s move to the Hudson building makes downtown “more rent-friendly” and “increases the vacancy rate.”
Morris, whose firm represents tenants in real estate deals, questioned who would fill that role. We are not seeing companies moving from the suburbs to downtown Detroit, existing tenants are not expanding, in fact downsizing, and construction costs are increasing to renovate existing office space.
According to a previous market report by Newmark Real Estate, the vacancy rate for downtown Detroit office space was 19.4% in the first quarter of this year, down from 13% at the end of 2019.
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Journalists Jennifer Dixon and Susan Selasky contributed to this article.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau at: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more about General Motors and sign up for our auto newsletter. Become a member.
