Ford Makes Additional Moves Around Michigan Central Station

March 13, 2023 12:56 pm

Ford has made considerable progress at its Michigan Central Station revamp over the past few years as it aims to transform the historic site into a mobility hub for the future. In recent months, the automaker has restored the Book Depository building that will soon house a company called Newlab, added a third building for additional office space, and partnered with Google for autonomous vehicle research and training efforts, all while selling off more than two dozen other Michigan based properties. Now, Ford has made some additional moves near its Michigan Central Station campus as well, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

Interestingly, this bit of news notes that a company called 20^th Street Properties LLC actually purchased at least six properties in the Corktown area near Michigan Central earlier this year. However, a little research revealed that this particular entity lists Ford Land Development Co. Chair and CEO Jim Dobleske as its officer. Ford Land – the automaker’s real estate arm – declined to comment on the purchase, however, so not much else is known about it at this time – including what those properties will be used for.

What we do know is that those properties is that they include a former Arrow Chemical Products Inc. building and another site on St. Anne Street behind Michigan Central Station. The six properties that were discovered to have been purchased by 20^th Street total around 1.1 acres in size and contain three buildings with around 29,000 cumulative square feet, with an asking price of $2.5 million.

Otherwise, it’s unclear what sort of plans Ford has for these newly acquired properties, though given the rapid expansion at Michigan Central in recent years, these acquisitions make perfect sense. The Blue Oval clearly sees this particular area as the future of mobility in the U.S., and is acting accordingly by securing as much land around it as possible.

We’ll have more on Michigan Central Station soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.