The grant for Michigan Central was approved at the request of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. as part of some $126 million in state funding officials recently said they would align with the project under a new memorandum of understanding between the state, the city of Detroit and Ford.
The request was for $7.5 million from fiscal year 2022 funds, with the potential for the strategic fund to approve additional funding in 2023 and 2024. The grant will support "activation" of the district, MEDC CEO Quentin Messer Jr. said Tuesday, and the creation of 2,500 non-Ford jobs.
"The district will position Michigan at the forefront of an inclusive, sustainable and electrified future of mobility, while housing global tech giants like Google, who will be making additional investments in the city's tech workforce," Messer said. "The partnership formed among Ford, the state and city officials will serve as a roadmap for future innovation district development across Michigan."
Specifically, the grant will support "mobility-focused programming, like the launch of 15-plus new technology deployments in the district by 2023," said Trevor Pawl, the state's chief mobility officer. It also will support the establishment of a Transportation Innovation Zone within the district, which will speed up the approval processes for companies looking to test mobility technologies there. Funding also will go toward new workforce training programs in the district.
Ford bought the vacant, long-abandoned Michigan Central Station in 2018 and since then has been working on a $740 million development that includes restoration of the iconic building and the establishment of a 1.2 million-square-foot campus that is slated to house 5,000 workers from Ford and other companies.
The 30-acre campus also includes the Albert Kahn-designed Book Depository that is being converted into a mixed-use maker space and the six-floor Bagley Mobility Hub parking garage. Those buildings are scheduled to open later this year, while Michigan Central Station — which will include offices and a hotel, among other things — is slated to open next year.
The project also is slated to include public amenities such as green space, biking trails, retail, scooters and more.
Under the grant agreement, the entity overseeing the district, Michigan Central Innovation District LLC, will work with the city, state and MEDC to achieve the following, according to a MEDC memo:
- The creation of three innovation-based programs that focus on mobility, sustainability, and community development, with the goal of launching 18 new technology deployments by January 2023.
- The creation of workforce training programs in the district that successfully train students by January 2023.
- Successful establishment of the Transportation Innovation Zone within the district.
The agreement also includes commitments to set goals in each of those areas for the second and third years of the grant term.
Tuesday's grant approval is just the latest in a series of recent moves related to Michigan Central. Ford on Monday announced a chief executive officer, Joshua Sirefman, to lead the mobility district.
And Google recently was announced as a "founding member," along with Ford, of Michigan Central. Google's involvement will focus on workforce development for local high school students and job seekers, and providing cloud technology for the district.
Project leaders also recently announced a public-private partnership with the state of Michigan and city of Detroit that includes additional financial support for the project and the Transportation Innovation Zone.
In addition to the Michigan Central project, the strategic fund board also approved these incentives for projects in Metro Detroit:
- A $1.5 million grant to support plans by Ohio-based auto supplier Dana Inc. to open a $9 million engineering facility focused on electric vehicles in Novi. The technology center and lab will create up to 150 new engineering and other positions and support a total of nearly 300 jobs. Dana expects to sign a 10-year lease for the facility with the potential for extensions.
- A brownfield work plan that includes $15.6 million in state tax captures for 26 years for redevelopment of the former prison site in Northville and Plymouth townships. The $38.7 million project calls for a nearly 66,000-square-foot commercial flex space development from an affiliate of Novi-based real-estate firm Hillside Investments, a large stormwater retention pond and 9,000-square-feet of infrastructure improvements that include sidewalks, curbs, asphalt paving and landscaping, which is being led by an entity created by the townships. The improvements are part of a larger effort to attract investment on the site of the former Detroit House of Corrections.
- A $2 million Michigan Business Development Program grant for LM Manufacturing, a joint venture between Magna and LAN Manufacturing, to lease 296,000 square feet of manufacturing space on the former Sakthi Industrial Campus to produce automotive seating. The project on the Bedrock-owned site in Detroit's Delray neighborhood is expected to create 390 jobs.
Breana Noble and Candice Williams contributed.
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