Former GM Headquarters Gets State Tenants

DETROIT-State of Michigan employees are about ready to move into the renovated Cadillac Place, formerly the General Motors Corp. headquarters building in Downtown. About 2,595 state employees will be moving into the one million-sf building.

The first phase of workers will be switching over during the last weekend in August from their current offices at the Plaza Building and the Labor Building in Detroit.

The state purchased the old building, designed by world-renowned architect Albert Kahn, from GM after the automaker decided to buy the one million-sf Renaissance Center building in the 1990s.

Penny Griffin, public information officer for the State Department of Management and Budget, says Cadillac Place has been through a $116-million renovation. She adds many Detroit-based state departments, including the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the Attorney General, the State Supreme Court, the Secretary of State and Consumer and Industry Services, will make the switch from the Plaza and Labor buildings into floors nine through 15 of Cadillac Place.

“As construction moves along and our ordinances are approved, we’ll be phasing other employees in. The rest will be moving in by the beginning of next summer,” she tells GlobeSt.com.

Other state department offices in Detroit, such as the Michigan State Police, Department of Corrections and Family Independence Agency, will stay in their current locations, she adds.

“We want them to keep their presence in their communities. These are departments that should stay close to the residents,” Griffin says.

The state is now working on how to market the buildings being vacated, Griffin adds. Under state law, she explains, her department will have to work on a plan to market and sell the property with the state legislature, and receive permission for how to sell the buildings.

“The legislature dictates how the state disseminates property and structures. When we have surplus property, we work with them to get property authority to sell it,” Griffin says.

The Labor Building has 508,000 sf, and the Plaza building 242,000 sf, she notes.

“While buyers may come and talk to us, we usually won’t start discussing specific sale plans until we get conveyance language approved,” Griffin says. “Since the legislature is on summer break, we will probably seek the authority in the fall.”