GM Sketches Expanded Design Center

General Motors Co. says it will break ground on a previously announced expansion of its design center in Warren, Mich., in mid-2018.  

The expansion will add 360,000 sq ft to the existing 350,000-sq-ft design center. GM plans to use the added space in part to develop designs for autonomous vehicles and technologies related to ride- and car-sharing services.

The project, which includes the addition of a parking structure, is expected to take as long as three years to complete. GM announced a $1 billion investment at the Michigan site in May 2015, a year after flooding damaged several areas of the tech center’s campus. Renovations already have been made to pre-production and vehicle engineering areas and to an alternative energy center.

Opened in 1956, GM’s tech center campus was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark three years ago. The design center includes GM’s distinctive design dome, auditorium and viewing patio.