The Detroit-based automaker is looking to build a 400,000 square-foot addition to its Lansing Grand River assembly plant, which builds the Cadillac CTS and ATS.
LANSING, MI — General Motors Co. is considering investing $38 million to expand its Lansing Grand River assembly plant, a move that could bring 150 jobs.
The Detroit-based automaker is looking to build a 400,000 square-foot addition to its 2.5 million-square-foot Lansing Grand River assembly plant, which builds the Cadillac CTS and ATS and will begin building the Chevrolet Camaro in 2015.
The addition will serve as a logistics center where workers will piece together automotive parts for sequencing, said Bob Trezise, president and CEO of Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) Inc.
“GM has only said it’s in sourcing, and this is a way of helping them with production,” Trezise said.
Pending necessary approvals, GM could begin construction as early as July 2013 and finish by 2015, according to LEAP.
GM spokeswoman Erin Davis said the company is “developing a business case for potential future investment.” She wouldn’t release further details other than to say it would fund facility improvements to strengthen the plant’s manufacturing capabilities.
The company has requested a 12-year, 50 percent tax break on the real property, or building addition, worth about $4 million. The Lansing City Council is expected to begin its review process on Monday.
GM already has an agreement in place that exempts equipment from the personal property tax for 25 years. The agreement was reached a few years ago, Trezise said.
GM invested about $190 million to upgrade the Lansing Grand River plant for production of the Cadillac ATS, which began last summer with nearly 600 new employees.
The plant employs more than 1,500 salaried and hourly employees, Davis said.
The ATS and second shift have been a blessing to the plant, said Mike Green, president of UAW Local 652, which represents hourly workers at the facility.
“When you’re doing the right thing it makes it pretty easy to invest,” he said, referencing the ATS’s success as the 2013 North American Car of the Year.
Mayor Virg Bernero said he couldn’t be more excited.
“It bodes very well for the city, this signals GM’s continued confidence in Lansing and in the Lansing workforce,” he said. “In today’s hyper-competitive automotive marketplace, that’s huge.”
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