Chinese auto supplier to invest $26.9 million, create 160 jobs in Detroit

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

"Chinese auto supplier YFS Automotive Systems Inc. announced today it plans to construct a 150,000 square foot manufacturing facility on 30 acres of vacant industrial property in Detroit.
According to a news release from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the new facility will be used to design, test and manufacture automotive fuel system components. The project is expected to create 160 new jobs. YFS will invest $26.9 million in the project, according to the news release. The location of the plant was not disclosed."



http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...te-160-jobs-in


Nice to see some vacant land will be utilized. I wonder where this is?

[renf]

Manual Moroun's real estate subsidiary recently purchased 40 acres or so in the underutilized I-94 Industrial park on the east side. I wonder if that is where this new facility will be located? It will be quite impressive if the I-94 industrial park is eventually filled with research and development facilities linked to the vehicle industry.

[Armin]

I have some insight for you. A sibling of mine was just hired by YFS [[Yapp) as the general manager of that future plant. It is his job right now to head the team that finds the new location. He told me last week that they are not looking to build a brand new facility. He said they were primarily looking for an older vacant structure that can be repurposed for the manufacturing capacity that they need. That article from Crains implies something different. I'll have to ask him about it again this weekend.

[Hypestyles]

The factory should be somewhere in Detroit proper. An all-new facility is preferable. I’m not sure what is meant by an abandoned factory that is still “intact”. All these places have been scrapped to death.
Besides hiring local people, the Chinese should also look into bringing some of their people to relocate to live in Detroit. Buy homes, apartments, settle in new neighborhoods on the east and west side of town.

[Armin]

preferable to who? you? I'll let him know. by the way, I don't think they are looking at the Maroun property. he said the area of concentration was nearby Eastern Market.

[T.Low]

I have some insight for you. A sibling of mine was just hired by YFS [[Yapp) as the general manager of that future plant. It is his job right now to head the team that finds the new location. He told me last week that they are not looking to build a brand new facility. He said they were primarily looking for an older vacant structure that can be repurposed for the manufacturing capacity that they need. That article from Crains implies something different. I'll have to ask him about it again this weekend.

"YFS, with a U.S. headquarters in Gallatin, Tenn., will receive a $1.3 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant through the Michigan Strategic Fund for bringing the project to Michigan as opposed to Ohio. In the briefing memo for the project,

it’s stated that the Ohio location included a building, while the Michigan location is a vacant brownfield site.

The city of Detroit has offered to support the project with a tax abatement, and YFS is also in the process of seeking assistance from the Detroit Employment Solutions Corp. to help form its workforce."