GM to plan move from RenCen to Dan Gilbert’s Hudson’s tower

[Henry Whalley]

I read somewhere that it would be cheaper to tear down the RenCen that to re-purpose it.

Towers may be the right size for Maralago Mussolini's diaper depository.

[stasu1213]

The two smaller towers could be converted to mid to high end residential. Not to be used for affordable living or fixed income. Bedrock could start out by focusing on the Winter Garden and putting retail and more restaurants in it. There are more people utilizing the Riverwalk being that it has expanded plus cruise ships will be docking near the RenCen. The Winter Garden could have shops and restaurants that could draw in people and help generate money for the RenCen.

[ABetterDetroit]

The two smaller towers could be converted to mid to high end residential. Not to be used for affordable living or fixed income.

There is an immense amount of square footage involved in a residential conversion in just a single tower let alone two. Plenty of room for fixed income in 20% of the units. Besides, it’s the law when tax incentives are involved which would obviously be the case here.

https://detroitmi.gov/news/mayor-ann...dian%20income.

[mkd]

Monroe Blocks is gonna start in September. It would have started already but they had to use that space for the NFL draft stage.

As for putting his own money into it, if there is anyone who would put their own money into a Detroit project it’s him. I mean he’s wanted the RenCen for years now, why would he want it if he didn’t have any plans for it?

Gilbert acquired the Monroe blocks long before we knew about the draft, I doubt he's been waiting around for that.

It's also news to me that "he's wanted the RenCen for years"...

[Noah V]

Gilbert acquired the Monroe blocks long before we knew about the draft, I doubt he's been waiting around for that.

It's also news to me that "he's wanted the RenCen for years"...

I believe around 2018 there were a bunch of reports that he wanted to buy the RenCen from GM

[jcole]

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I don't see the RenCen as an "iconic" building in Detroit. I see the Guardian, the Penobscot, the old Gas building and many others as "iconic" but I've always seen the RenCen as an ugly eyesore that doesn't fit the River Front.

[Henry Whalley]

...an ugly eyesore that doesn't fit the River Front.

Inside and outside its architectural style makes one feel nauseous. But it's too big to fail.

Nausea : Sartre, Jean-Paul, 1905-1980 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[royce]

One of the actions that needs to be taken to renovate the RenCen is to get rid of the podium, that inner ring of corridors. I'm not sure if there's enough room, but a road coming from Jefferson through the center of the podium, creating a circular drive would vastly improve the accessibility to the hotel and the four towers. If not a road, then at least an open-air walkway/plaza. That's my two cents.

[mwilbert]

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I don't see the RenCen as an "iconic" building in Detroit. I see the Guardian, the Penobscot, the old Gas building and many others as "iconic" but I've always seen the RenCen as an ugly eyesore that doesn't fit the River Front.

An iconic building isn't a good one, although it might be. An iconic building is one that is used to represent the city. The RenCen is the literally the only non-sports-arena building in Detroit that anyone who has hasn't been here has any chance of recognizing. Of course it's iconic.

Now to me, the iconic Detroit building is the Fisher Building, but no non-Detroiter knows what that is or would recognize it.

[jcole]

Then the Packard and the Fisher factories are also iconic? They are recognized worldwide by ruin porn lovers. Actually, so are many other buildings in Detroit.

An iconic building isn't a good one, although it might be. An iconic building is one that is used to represent the city. The RenCen is the literally the only non-sports-arena building in Detroit that anyone who has hasn't been here has any chance of recognizing. Of course it's iconic.

Now to me, the iconic Detroit building is the Fisher Building, but no non-Detroiter knows what that is or would recognize it.

[stasu1213]

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I don't see the RenCen as an "iconic" building in Detroit. I see the Guardian, the Penobscot, the old Gas building and many others as "iconic" but I've always seen the RenCen as an ugly eyesore that doesn't fit the River Front.

In the 70s New York had the twin towers, Chicago had the Sears Tower, so Detroit gained The recognizable RenCen

[Richard]

An iconic building isn't a good one, although it might be. An iconic building is one that is used to represent the city. The RenCen is the literally the only non-sports-arena building in Detroit that anyone who has hasn't been here has any chance of recognizing. Of course it's iconic.

Now to me, the iconic Detroit building is the Fisher Building, but no non-Detroiter knows what that is or would recognize it.

I would recognize the Fisher building and many others thanks to Detroiters who help show the beauty the city has to offer.

The Rencen may be iconic because of who it relates to but it not awe inspiring iconic like the others that define the city,the rencen makes me think some young architect was sitting on the toilet staring at an empty TP roll while thinking- I wonder what that would look like if someone stuck it in the ground and put some winders in it.

But that is me,others may like that style of architecture and appreciate it for what it is.

[Richard]

Then the Packard and the Fisher factories are also iconic? They are recognized worldwide by ruin porn lovers. Actually, so are many other buildings in Detroit.

I think they are or were because they defined the city and reminds us of the millions of Americans that toiled in them that helped shape the world,they did not just build a city,they helped build a country and changed the world and played a major role in helping save it from tyranny.

Then they just get discarded like yesterdays trash because their condition represented dark days in Detroit,while cities in Europe rebuilt bombed out City blocks back to original because they chose not to let the dark days defeat them.

[313WX]

Sorry Detroit, GM CEO Mary Barra Conned Motown With Bogus Headquarters Claim

https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/arti...quarters_claim

Psst. Hey Deadline Detroit readers, can you keep a secret? Promise not to tell Mayor Duggan or the folks at the Free Press and the News. This is just between us, okay?

GM’s headquarters is in Warren. It has been for quite some time.

Yeah, I know, CEO Mary Barra said this week that "it's important to all of us at GM that we continue to call Detroit our home for a long time to come” and that she’s relocating the company’s headquarters from the RenCen to the Hudson’s Detroit complex because the heavily taxpayer subsidized Dan Gilbert building is “very personal to me.”

I’m always touched when CEOs share their feelings about what matters to them most.

But this is the same Mary Barra who told employees they could “work appropriately” from home indefinitely and then ordered them back to the office three days a week.

The same Mary Barra who for years said GM by the end of 2025 would be selling more electric vehicles than Tesla. That ain’t going to happen. Even Ford and Hyundai sell more EVs than GM.

The same Mary Barra who said GM’s 2023 executive compensation would be tied to the success of the company’s EV transition. Given that GM’s transition to EVs has been an undeniable disaster, don’t hold your breath that Barra’s 2023 compensation, which will be disclosed in short order, will reflect a massive pay cut from the $29 million she awarded herself the previous two years. [[Barra is chair of GM’s board, which means she has undue control.).

There is no law requiring that certain parameters must be met to qualify as a company’s headquarters. Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s arrogant and failed CEO, once declared that his company’s headquarters was where he and his CFO happened to be.

“Remember now what headquarters is – it’s me, CFO,” Calhoun said at a June 2022 press event for the official launch of Boeing’s new Virginia office.

In addition to them both getting paid more than $20 million a year, I see lots of other disturbing similarities between Calhoun and Barra. Both are overseeing the decline of two once great American corporations, their futures threatened by better run rivals in Europe and China. I consider it a bad omen that GM is moving into a building named after another once vaunted Michigan corporation that was merged out of existence decades ago.

Barra’s top lieutenants don’t appear all that bullish about GM’s future, otherwise they wouldn’t be dumping their stock given the runup that’s resulted from Barra spending $10 billion to buy back GM’s shares and made them just slightly more valuable than they were when she took over the company more than 10 years ago.

[bragaboutme]

Psst. OP here's a secret there is no Warren, no tech center, GM or the auto industry. There's been a reality we just aren't ready to face. We are losing in every category. Toyota is visible, Honda is visible, our three [[get it, no longer big three) has been running on fumes. The only thing that would bring some type of growth is if they get on board with Ford and figure out that they both GM and Stelantis need to get an area Downtown or in the City Limits. Tesla and all others have figured it out that it's the optics even Ford has figured it out. Move the Tech center and all design operations Downtown. Say the move is temporary to the Hudson, while the Rec Cen is empty. Tear it down and build the tallest building in American simular to what Oklahoma City is doing. Our whole regions leadership is behind if it thinks the Tech Center is anything to brag about. Or the Stelantis headquarters in Auburn Hills is a great look, it's not. Think about it we have the draft coming here and Ford Is the only company that's ready to show some type of forward thinking.

[Lowell]

The internet meme wags are at it again.

[jcole]

I'd actually go to see that launch

The internet meme wags are at it again.

[Gistok]

I agree with that article that 313XY posted... from the very moment that the announcement came out that GM was moving their HQ to 2 stories of the Hudson's Block... it reeked to high heaven of the stealthy move to Warren quite some time ago.

What galls me is the "Putin-esque" way that Duggan, Barra, Gilbert, et al, are trying to bullshit their way into making us believe it.

[drjeff]

Well they are either paying rent for office space or not. There will either be employees on site or not.

[stasu1213]

The GM RenCen purchase was initially good for downtown, as of 2003 GM had about 6,000 workers in there, about 600 more than what it had in the GM Building. One of the 39 story towers remained leased to other tenants. And the former subsidiary EDS was getting ready to move 1,500 people into Tower 500.

Admittedly it's laughable now to read the 1996 articles and GM speculating that it would eventually relocate up to 20,000 people to the RenCen.

In addition to the pandemic devastating GM's presence downtown, it's simply a smaller company than what it was 20 years ago.

It should've just moved back into Cadillac Place instead. Probably would've fit into all the excess space the state is trying to lease.

That would had been interesting had Gene4al Motors stepped backward into their original building. There are still not enough employees to even fill all of the empty offices in each of the towers of Cadillac Place. Listen carefully to what Barra had said. She said the GM will not abandon the downtown area. Not to keep it’s headquarters downtown. General Motor’s woes began much earlier than the pandemic. They began after the bailout and the company was forced to cancel two of it’s lines; Pontiac and Oldsmobile. That’s when the downsizing of office workers began at their headquarters. To General Motor’s credit they did save the RenCen after Ford had abandoned it. They made the complex more inviting through renovations which cost millions. If it’s true that Gilbert was flirting with the idea of buying The RenCen in 2018 he saw that he probably had a vision of what he could do to utilize each tower and every square footage of the complex without allowing the complex to gobble up majority of the offices and firms that the RenCen had done when it first opened in 1977. I could see Fortune 500 global companies taking up the 4 towers. Don’t be surprised if Honda, Toyota, Tesla, or some other foreign car Corp open offices in one of the four towers.

[Lowell]

Keeping nominal Headquarters downtown may be easy to explain. When bringing bigwigs, investors, and the likes to town it is a little difficult to schmooze them in "Borin' Warren".

Better to bring them to their pied-à-terre "headquarters" in the downtown to stay at the five star hotel and where the major leagues sports, arts and culture, and, what the heck, casinos too are.

Make sense?

[stasu1213]

The RenCen is iconic for it's unique design and being the tallest building in Michigan. It also sit at the riverfront for Canada and all to see. It share the exact same as the Peachtree Westin Hotel in Atlanta Georgia. The hotel in Atlanta is not considered iconic being that Atlanta now has buildings that are taller and have better design than the Westin. Any newer development in Detroit over the past 40 years couldn't go past the height of the RenCen

[Gistok]

Any newer development in Detroit over the past 40 years couldn't go past the height of the RenCen

I do believe that falls under the "urban legend" category...

[DetBill]

Does anyone know why GM is not lighting up the top of the towers anymore, it always looks so nice on our skyline at night, and for the last month and a half the rings around four towers and the hotel are never lit just the little squares with the GM emblem, are they just being cheap or? I know the squares were down for a while, but GM had stated they were just maintaining and repairing and improving them. Well, they are lit but now they decided to turn off all the lights at the top of the towers, which is kind of sad to see the dark at night that way, it was always so prominent. Anyone have any ideas? What a time to shut the lights out on the top of the Ren Cen ,bad decision. Thanks!…help Jimaz, the pic still is sideways��

[Burnsie]

General Motor’s woes began much earlier than the pandemic. They began after the bailout and the company was forced to cancel two of it’s lines; Pontiac and Oldsmobile...To General Motor’s credit they did save the RenCen after Ford had abandoned it.

Oldsmobile's extermination was announced in Dec. 2000 and its last car built in spring 2004; GM didn't file for bankruptcy until June 2009. Ford didn't abandon the RenCen, and didn't own it. GM bought it from Highgate Hotels, which had bought it from several insurance companies. Until GM's purchase Ford had no intentions of moving its 2,450 employees and contractors in Towers 200 and 300. At the time, those leases ran until 2005.