The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has awarded GM with a $2 million grant to improve roads around a new parts plant set for construction at the former Palace of Auburn Hills site. The new parts plant will supply the General Motors Orion Assembly plant and support the automaker’s future all-electric vehicle production. The $2 million grant is part of a larger $278 million project to bolster GM’s EV transition.
Per a report from The Detroit News, the new MDOT grant will fund improvements to M-24, also known as Lapeer Road. The report indicates that access to the site is currently inadequate given an expected daily traffic increase to 1,000 commercial vehicle and 2,000 passenger trips. Improvements include widening the road, adding lanes, reconfiguring crossovers, modernizing traffic signs, and improving access to the I-75 connector ramp, all of which are expected to cost $2.5 million. The remaining non-construction project costs will be addressed by PAH Real Estate and the city of Auburn Hills.
The new GM EV parts facility will be established on an 873-acre site that previously served as the home of the Detroit Pistons basketball team before it was demolished in 2020. The new facility will cover 1.1 million square feet and is expected to employ roughly 1,000 workers across three shifts. Notably, GM will not own the site, but instead will lease it from Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and commercial real estate Schostak Brothers & Company. Schostak Brothers will be responsible for construction of the facility, while General Motors will pony up the $200 million needed to develop the site for EV component manufacturing.
Components manufactured at the site will support production of GM’s all-electric pickup models. The automaker is investing a total of $6.5 billion into its Lake Orion and Delta Township Assembly plants in order to support new EV production. As GM Authority covered previously, there is currently a massive expansion under way at the Lake Orion facility.
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Comments
About time.
I’ve seen motocross tracks in better shape.
Seriously…anything over 15mph and you’ve a good chance of loosing a tire.
Let’s hope Giddings Rd. that circles the plant on the west side is paved at the same time. That’s the road that’s a complete bombed out disaster. There’s more patches on it than actual pavement.