GM HQ to leave Ren Cen?

[ZachariahDaMan]

Do you guys think there is a chance that the HQ will actually leave the Ren Cen? The mayor of Warren is trying to get the HQ to move there. What a blow to it would be to Detroit if this did happen.

[JazperG]

Do you guys think there is a chance that the HQ will actually leave the Ren Cen? The mayor of Warren is trying to get the HQ to move there. What a blow to it would be to Detroit if this did happen.

[Jasoncw]

It never made any sense for them to move to the Tech Center. There's the big hassle of building a new office building and moving there, and then there's the task of selling the Ren Cen (which has been a big money loser since it was built) after they spent all of this money renovating it. It would be a headache, bad PR, and a money loss (even with paying less taxes). As far as consolidation goes, it's my impression that the Ren Cen has mostly administrative type stuff, and the Tech Center is R&D, and I don't think being a half hour away is a problem.

I don't like the Mayor of Warren. He's been on the news a lot, and every time I see him it's for things that I don't like.

[Allan]

GM isn't going anywhere. Their presence in the city might be downscaled somewhat as the company restructures, but they aren't going to leave the Ren Cen. It just wouldn't make sense. Such a move to Warren would cost millions and millions of dollars. I've heard that the Tech Center does have a lot of unoccupied space; however, I don't know if it's even enough space. Even if it were enough space, it would likely need substantial renovations.

If they do seriously threaten a move, the city and state would likely craft one of those sweetheart tax deals like they offer to companies who are considering to move here from other states in order to keep them here.

[Jim856796]

General Motors Headquarters cannot leave the Renaissance Centre. If General Motors does leave the Renaissance Centre, much of the office space in the complex would become vacant again. Before General Motors moved their headquarters into the RenCen, the complex was inaccessible and there were some "berns" in front of the building that were removed earlier this decade. GM moved into the Renaissance Center in the late 1990s and they were responsible for the renovation of the complex.