A former General Motors factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, now houses 13 companies and hundreds of employees, a state development agency said.
Kaiser Aluminum has spent over US$100m in the plant where 150 workers are now turning out parts for the aerospace, defence and other industries; Seneca Medical set up a distribution center for medical and surgical supplies inside the old factory while it builds a new facility on 10 acres it acquired on the campus; numerous smaller companies have leased space; and Candlewood Suites opened a new 95-unit hotel on the site last autumn.
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“When General Motors closed the plant in 1999, we had a potential white elephant on our hands,” said Ron Kitchens, CEO of Southwest Michigan First, the regional economic development agency. “Instead, we viewed it as prime real estate midway between Detroit and Chicago and we moved quickly to capitalise on the opportunity. It’s since risen like a phoenix from the ashes.”
The agency worked with Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital Partners and public and private firms to transform the dilapidated 2.2m sq ft facility and the 340 acres surrounding it into a business park. The new owners spent about $30m to revamp the massive building, splitting it into two buildings with a truck bay between them, and giving it new lighting, paint and landscaping for better commercial appeal.
Now dubbed Midlink Business Park, the site’s two buildings are about 80% occupied and bulldozers are clearing the site for Seneca Medical’s new 80,000 sq ft distribution facility. Midlink president David Smith said the park is currently targeting manufacturers that would benefit from being in a Michigan tax-free renaissance zone, as well as retailers, restaurants and others to support the new businesses that now call the old GM plant home.
The factory, on South Sprinkle Road, was originally opened in 1966 as a Fisher Body plant after land acquisition was completed in 1964. It later was part of GM’s Buick Oldsmobile Cadillac Group, then of North American Operations before being designated Metal Fabricating Division’s Kalamazoo Metal Center. At its peak, the facility employed nearly 4,000 skilled workers. Closure was announced in 1992 but execution was stayed until July 1999 after GM decided to extend the life of some H-body Oldsmobile and Buick models.
