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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Ford Plans Major Transformation At Its Dearborn, Michigan, Production-Operations Campus

04/13/2016
Ford Motor Company plans to transform its facilities in Dearborn, Michigan. The modern high-tech, green, campus will foster innovation and help drive the company’s transition to an auto and a mobility company.

According to company officials, the 10-year transformation of the company’s more than 60-year-old Dearborn facilities will colocate 30,000 employees from 70 buildings today into primarily two locations – a product campus and a world headquarters campus. More than 7.5 million square feet of work space will be rebuilt and upgraded into even more technology-enabled and connected facilities.

A second campus location – around the current Ford World Headquarters building – will feature a new Ford Credit facility and provide onsite employee services, improved connectivity and enhanced accessibility to the expansive green space that surrounds the building.

“As we transition to an auto and a mobility company, we’re investing in our people and the tools they use to deliver our vision,” said Ford President/CEO Mark Fields. “Bringing our teams together in an open, collaborative environment will make our employees’ lives better, speed decision-making and deliver results for both our core and emerging businesses.”

The company’s core auto business includes continuing to invest in designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing cars, SUVs, trucks and electrified vehicles, the automaker noted. It also is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and data and analytics.

The current Ford Research and Engineering Center Campus – dedicated by U.S. President Eisenhower in May 1953 – currently houses 12,000 employees. It is being transformed into a contemporary, innovative work environment to accommodate 24,000 employees in 4.5 million square feet of upgraded work space.

Construction of the new product campus begins this month at the Ford Research and Engineering Center. The majority of work is expected to be complete by 2023. Major work on the second campus around Ford World Headquarters begins in 2021 and is expected to be complete in 2026.

The campus also will serve as a pilot location for Ford Smart Mobility solutions, including autonomous vehicles, on-demand shuttles and eBikes to transport employees.

The all-new, more-than-700,000-square-foot Design Center will be the focal point of the campus and include new studios and an outdoor design courtyard. The historic 14,000-square-foot Ford Design Showroom will remain and will be upgraded to be used as an event venue.

“We are taking a holistic approach when integrating employee wellness into work environments,” said Donna Inch, Chairman/CEO, Ford Motor Land Development Corporation. “We realize people are our greatest asset, and we are putting them at the heart of our workplace design to create healthy, happy work environments.”

When complete, Ford’s Dearborn campuses will complement the company’s state-of-the-art facility that opened in Palo Alto, California, last year.

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