General Motors is working to open a warehouse for electric vehicle parts at the former American Motors Corp. site in Detroit to serve its nearby Factory Zero assembly plant.
The automaker confirmed it will control a new 793,520-square-foot warehouse on the city’s west side, but it will be staffed and operated by Logistics Insight Corp., an affiliate of the Moroun family trucking giant Universal Logistics Holdings Inc.
“The site, scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2024, will support the production of electric vehicles including the GMC Hummer EV, Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cruise Origin by optimizing the delivery, storage and processing of parts and products,” a GM spokesperson said in an email to Crain’s Detroit Business.
Home to American Motors until it was abandoned in 2010, the site is being redeveloped by NorthPoint Development LLC. The construction project is being aided by about $32 million in tax increment financing from the city and $5.1 million in state brownfield incentives.
The automaker’s interest in the 50-acre site was first reported by Crain’s Detroit Business last September. In March, the city issued a permit at the site for “construction of new…industrial warehouse shell and site work” totaling $66 million.
GM declined to say what it is investing in the plant, but a spokesperson said the company has not applied for local or state incentives.
GM’s use of the site in Detroit is similar to its plans for the Palace of Auburn Hills site 32 miles North of Detroit in that the automaker will control both plants but third parties will run them. In Auburn Hills, the $200 million “value-added assembly” plant will serve EV production at GM Orion Assembly in Orion Township Northwest of Detroit.
The Detroit warehouse also represents an expansion of the Moroun logistics empire. Universal Logistics operates a 1 million-square-foot parts sequencing plant for Stellantis NV’s assembly plants on Detroit’s east side, the company told Crain’s earlier this year. Crown Enterprises, the Morouns’ real estate arm, also owns a nearby 925,000-square-foot logistics warehouse servicing Stellantis, though Universal does not operate that one.
Crain’s reached out to a Moroun family spokesperson for more detail on the new jobs at the warehouse in Detroit.
Factory Zero, GM’s first fully dedicated EV plant, underwent a $2.2 billion retooling for the Hummer EV, which launched production in 2021. Meanwhile, Orion Assembly is in the midst of a $4 billion electric conversion, and the automaker is building a $2.6 billion battery plant near Lansing Delta Township Assembly.
— Crain’s senior reporter Kirk Pinho contributed to this report