Ford revitalizes Detroit with restoration of historic train station

DETROIT — Bill Ford’s vision for the future of mobility is braking shape in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. When it’s completed, a 110-year-old train station known as Michigan Central will be revitalized and home to hundreds for Ford employees -- plus a boutique hotel, shops and restaurants. The first phase, resurrecting a classic 1936 Albert Kahn structure formerly used as a book depository and converting it into a tech incubator, opened Tuesday.

The 270,000-square-foot building is already home to 33 companies working on things like drones, automated vehicles, electric vehicle chargers and air pollution monitoring. They work under the umbrella of an entity called Newlab, which has a similar tech space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While Michigan Central is backed by Ford, companies onsite are free to work with other automakers, and Google has signed on as a partner.

“If we made this a Ford-only thing, it wasn’t going to reach its full potential,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford said. “This space will be where young companies really can start.”

Appearing relaxed after the formal remarks, Ford hung around and played host, mingling with the crowd that included politicians (Detroit’s mayor and Michigan’s lieutenant governor), Edsel Ford II and employees from the construction company that helped rebuild the site.

The soaring atrium and sleek glass workplaces contrasted with the unrestored columns and ceilings, adding character and architectural flourish. The revitalized book depository was also a post office and mail sorting facility in previous lives. Though it sat empty for 35 years after a 1987 fire, it’s a relatively easy chore for redevelopers, in line with other projects that have rehabbed a significant portion of Detroit’s downtown. The skyline soared in the 1920s and ‘30s as the automobile and financial industries flourished, and Detroit is still home to one of the most significant collections of Art Deco, Beaux Arts (like Michigan Central) and Neo Gothic structures in the nation.