Aircraft Firm Buys Historic Willow Run Site

International Turbine Industries, a jet engine maintenance company, has acquired the site of General Motors Co.'s Willow Run factory in Ypsilanti Township, Mich., for an undisclosed amount.

The property, which includes a 23,000-sq-ft facility on 22 acres, is across the street from ITI's existing facility. The aircraft company says it plans to use the site to expand its jet engine repair and parts sales businesses.

The sale was made by Racer Trust, which holds the real estate GM left behind in bankruptcy in 2009. The trust is still trying to sell the remainder of the 300-acre Willow Run complex.

Ford Motor Co. built the Willow Run plant during World War II on a farm owned by founder Henry Ford. As part of Detroit's "Arsenal of Democracy," the factory churned out nearly 9,000 B-24 Liberator bombers. After the war, Ford sold the facility to Kaiser-Fraser Corp.

In 1953 GM bought the plant, where over the years it made automatic transmissions and such Chevrolet models as the Caprice, Corvair, Nova and Vega cars. The factory, which employed 14,000 workers in its heyday, stopped making vehicles in 1993. The facility continued making transmissions until it closed in December 2010.