QOTD: Will Ford's Train-Station Rehab Spur More Development?
Ford's long-awaited revitalization of the old Michigan Central train station has begun.
This has us wondering -- will Ford's move spur more development, particularly from Detroit-based automakers and suppliers, when it comes to other abandoned buildings that have a connection to the industry either via geography or past use?
Not just in Detroit, mind you, but anywhere in the country where the industry has had a presence.
I am far from an expert on old plants/factories/other facilities, but I imagine that there are places out there where an OEM could step in, do a rehab, build some office space, and leave the rest for retail and residences.
If you have such places in mind, sound off below.
[Image: Ford]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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GM is the master of "Monkey See, Monkey Do". They even had a BRZ competitor planned. Barra and Co are watching this intently.
The MCS is like the Packard plant, except it's in a little better shape. Building it miles away from downtown was a mistake, and the planned boulevard running to it from the Cultural Center never materialized. Interurban train service to it ended in the '30s, and there was not a decent amount of vehicle parking, so the building was isolated from a lot of folks that would have used it.
The adaptive reuse might succeed, but I'm dubious.
I doubt it. Vast areas of Detroit are a wasteland. Back in 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff golfed an 18-miles, 2,575-stroke through the squalor of Detroit.
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