Possible New Life for Michigan Central Station? Ford Motor Co. a Buyer? YES!

[Lowell]

Still sounds iffy from this shareholder's show-me-the-money slant and the reply.

"Given the company's dismal stock performance, please explain how the purchase of an abandoned train depot will add to shareholder value. If Ford does buy the Detroit rail station building in Detroit, will the building be devoted to just Ford or will parts of the building be leased out to other tenants?" the shareholder asked, according to a transcript.

Ford officials did not directly answer the shareholder's question about how it intends to use the train station, but the company's answer to shareholders hinted at the reasoning behind expanding its workforce presence in Detroit beyond The Factory building on Michigan Avenue that the company already has said will house 200-plus employees from its electric and autonomous vehicle teams.

"As a company we are in a race for talent when it comes to the vehicle, software and data engineers that are developing the autonomous technology and creating mobility experiences and services that will transform the way people connect and interact," the company said.

"That is why we continue to build out our presence in Palo Alto, advance our software capabilities at FordLabs in Ann Arbor, transform our Dearborn campus, and why we are moving our AV and EV teams to Corktown in Detroit. We expect to grow our presence in Detroit and will share more details in the future."

It's unclear just how much of Ford's AV and EV teams will be relocated to Detroit.

The company has not formally commented on its effort to build out a campus in Corktown and declined to say whether Ford's board of directors discussed purchasing the train station during a May 9 meeting, one day before the shareholder meeting.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...nce-in-detroit

[iheartthed]

Still sounds iffy from this shareholder's show-me-the-money slant and the reply.

I don't know if that matters as much for Ford. If the family is behind the idea then it would take a massive shareholder revolt to counter their voting power.