Lear to Build Seat Plant at Former GM Site in Flint

Lear Corp. plans to open a seat manufacturing facility in Flint, Mich., at the former site of General Motors Co.’s Buick City administration building.

Construction of the 160,000 sq-ft plant will start this autumn, with completion scheduled for early 2018. The facility will provide seats on a just-in-time basis for unspecified future vehicles built at GM's neighboring Flint Assembly plant. The factory is expected to eventually provide about 600 jobs.

The Michigan Strategic Fund has approved a $4.4 million state grant to Lear, and Flint will provide a 50% tax abatement. Lear says it had considered a site in Mexico before selecting Flint.

GM opened the 235-acre Flint complex, named Buick City in the mid-1980s, in 1904. The site, which once had 24 separate buildings, was taken over by Motors Liquidation Co. in 2010 as part of GM’s bankruptcy agreement.