Detroit, MI
GM doubles leased space in Detroit Hudson’s building to 4 floors
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Excitement is growing inside General Motors for the company to relocate from its current world headquarters at the Renaissance Center along the Detroit River to the new Hudson’s Detroit building on Woodward — so much so that the company will now double the space it planned to occupy at the new location, sources said.
GM confirmed to the Detroit Free Press on Monday that it plans to lease four floors in the Hudson’s building, rather than the original plan to take up two floors, when it moves into the building either late next year or early 2026.
“It’s good news that we’re taking up more space in the building for our employees,” a person familiar with the plans told the Free Press. The person asked to not be named because they are not authorized to share this information publicly. “There’s a lot of excitement around it and a lot of folks and teams have raised their hands to say they want to be down there.”
The overall $1.4 billion Hudson’s project is two new side-by-side buildings: A 49-story skyscraper and a wider 12-story “office block.” A total of 1.5 million square feet of space is planned. The developer is Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm Bedrock.
The person familiar with the project said the plans call for a restaurant on the top floor of the office block. GM will now occupy floors 8 through 11. The new world headquarters at the Hudson’s site will be home to GM’s key support corporate staff employees with functions such as communications and accounting, as well as the top executives, the person said. GM salaried employees have been working under a hybrid system since earlier this year under which they are required to be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
As the Detroit Free Press reported in April, the Hudson’s skyscraper tower is expected to contain a 210-room ultraluxury Edition Hotel and about 97 condominiums and apartments. Commercial real estate brochures show each floor in the office tower next door is just under 50,000 rentable square feet. That means, based on standard office space allocation, a 50,000-square-foot office could fit about 285 to 300 people if allowing for 150-175 square feet per person, according to Zippia.com. The number would vary depending on the office layout, desired density and any communal areas such as conference rooms included in the space.
GM spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed GM’s expansion to four floors, but declined to say how many GM employees will be assigned to the building or other details. In Michigan, GM employs 51,400 people, Kelly said.
In a statement to the Free Press on Tuesday, Kelly said, “GM is proud to call Detroit our global corporate headquarters, as it has since 1911. Hudson’s Detroit is a modern office location that fits the evolving needs of our workforce, and our employees have shared how excited they are about the new location. We now have the opportunity to bring even more people downtown and will expand our HQ offices to about double the size originally planned.”
GM announced it would relocate its world headquarters in April. It will be the anchor tenant at Hudson’s Detroit and have a 15-year lease.
GM bought its five towers at the RenCen for pennies on the dollar in 1996 without needing a mortgage. In moving, GM walks away from unneeded office space, but it takes on the cost of rent. GM has not provided its operating costs, such as taxes, utilities and janitorial expenses at the RenCen. GM President Mark Reuss said in April that GM would incur costs in the move, but declined to provide specifics or say how much rent GM will pay.
On Monday, GM released its plans for the RenCen once it relocates. It said the tallest tower would stay standing while two others would be demolished to then remake the iconic complex. The RenCen office space has struggled to stay filled after COVID-19 when many workers went remote and stayed that way. The cost to revamp the complex is $1.6 billion, including $250 million GM seeks in public support.
The development on the Hudson’s site broke ground in December 2017. It is the former site of the landmark J.L. Hudson Co. department store, which closed in 1983 and was imploded in 1998.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. Staff reporter J.C. Reindl contributed to this article.
Chickens and geese that went missing from a local nonprofit’s Detroit site were found in the backyard of a nearby home, the director of operations said Wednesday.
The Full Circle Foundation, a Grosse Point Park-based nonprofit, said more than a dozen chickens and geese were believed stolen from a chicken coop on Detroit’s east side that also features the Full Circle Edible Garden.
The nonprofit provides training and job opportunities for young people with special needs.
Neighbors who learned from news reports about the missing flock found the “chickens were being held in the backyard of a vacant home not far from the Full Circle Edible Garden,” said Stephanie DiVirgil, director of operations. She said Ribbon Farm 4-H owns the flock.
“The homeowner was contacted, and she reached out to Full Circle to confirm,” said DiVirgil. “We were able to retrieve all of the chickens and geese that were found on the property, 19 in total.”
The foundation and Ribbon Farms 4-H are working to secure the site, including cameras, fencing and lights.
“We will likely start a fundraising campaign to have these items installed,” DiVirgil said. “We’ve gotten amazing support from the community, including offers to help pay for these additional security measures.”
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Human remains were found in a furnace of an home on Detroit’s west side, the Detroit Police Department tells us.
The remains was found by an individual working on the home in the 5200 block of S Clarendon just after 11 a.m.
Anyone with information can call 313-596-2260 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SpeakUp.
Stay with WXYZ.com for updates on this developing story.
The Detroit Police Department is investigating after a 5-year-old child was shot in the arm near a park on Tuesday.
The shooting happened at about 8:50 p.m. near the Fargo-Oaklfield Playground on the city’s west side. Police Chief Todd Bettison says the child was in front of his home riding a bike with his father supervising at the time of the shooting.
Bettison says an individual at the park fired multiple shots, striking the child. He says the boy’s father reported hearing shots and the child falling from his bike.
Bettison says the child is expected to be OK.
Bettison says the person appears to have been firing shots randomly, which he calls “problematic.” He says a person of interest is described as possibly between 15 and 16 years old and wearing a mask. He says the person is known to frequent the area.
“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must go down,” Bettison said. “To parents and everyone, know where your kids are. Juveniles should not have guns, and whether you’re an adult or a child, you should not be firing a weapon inside of the city limits.”
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield released a statement, saying in part, “By the grace of God, this young boy will recover from his injury and is on his way home from the hospital. With that said, this incident was senseless and could have had a much more tragic ending.
“Every child in Detroit deserves to feel safe riding their bike, playing outside, and simply being a child in their own neighborhood. We cannot accept a reality where our children are placed in harm’s way because someone chose to recklessly fire a gun.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.
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