Ford's new beginning for the old train station

"It's not just a building," Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. told The Detroit News in an interview. "It's an amazing building, but it's about all the connections to Detroit, to the suburbs, and the vision around developing the next generation of transportation."

Michigan Central Depot would attract new employees to develop the mobility, autonomy and electrification technologies billed as the biggest disruptors to the auto industry since Henry Ford began making Model T's for the masses. A view of the Detroit skyline from the top floor of the Michigan Central Depot train station.

The Corktown outpost is meant to supplement Ford's work on its Dearborn campus, and it will use a portion of the undisclosed dollar amount Ford set aside in 2016 to accomplish that redesign. The lobby of the Michigan Central Depot train station.

"It's not just a building," said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., standing in the depot's atrium. "It's an amazing building, but it's about all the connections to Detroit, to the suburbs, and the vision around developing the next generation of transportation."

A hallway leads to the lobby. Ford expects the building to attract new employees to develop the mobility, autonomy and electrification technologies important for its future.

An artist's rendering shows a market for fresh produce in the atrium space.

The ground floor lobby of the 18-story, 500,000-square-foot building would be open to the public. That space could house markets, coffee shops, restaurants, retail and gathering spaces. A hotel or residential component also is being considered.

Ford's plan for the depot is currently an outline. Bill Ford Jr. envisions a bustling public space akin to San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace.

In addition to the train station, above, Ford has purchased these Corktown properties: The Factory, 1907 Michigan Ave.; the old book depository, 2231 Dalzelle St.; and vacant land adjacent to PAL complex.

A rendering imagines the ground floor of the old Michigan Central Depot as a public space with retail, restaurants and gathering spaces.

"One thing I don't want to do is take a beautiful building and put something that's garish on there," Bill Ford Jr. said. " "We don't want to be isolated and we don't want to be seen as taking over the community by any means."

A small fraction of the company's Dearborn workforce would move into the station, with all but Ford's electrification and autonomous driving teams remaining in Dearborn to occupy the sprawling, estimated $1 billion campus redesign there slated for completion in the mid-2020s.

Roughly a third of the renovation cost would be comped by tax breaks for the historic restoration of the depot. Ford, the city, and the former owners of the building have declined comment on the purchase price or how much Ford will spend on the renovation.

A small fraction of the company's Dearborn workforce would move into the station, with all but Ford's electrification and autonomous driving teams remaining in Dearborn to occupy the sprawling, estimated $1 billion campus redesign there slated for completion in the mid-2020s.

While the public space would occupy the 300,000 square feet on the ground floor of the station and other Corktown properties, 2,500 Ford employees and 2,500 partner employees would occupy the remaining 900,000 square feet come 2022. This is the top floor.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett said the Corktown outpost will give Ford's teams access to a true urban landscape in which to test autonomous technology and how those vehicles will need to communicate with traffic systems, delivery destinations and other infrastructure.

Hackett said the Corktown project won't cost Ford any more than the estimated $1 billion it budgeted for the Dearborn transformation plan. Money for the Corktown outpost came out of that original budget. Above, a stairwell on the top floor of the Michigan Central Depot.

The ticket booths used to occupy this space in the Michigan Central Depot.

Ford will announce officially on June 19 its plans for the building, followed by a party in Roosevelt Park in front of the long-vacant building.

Workers prepare for Ford's press conference Tuesday, June 19, to talk about their purchase of the train station.

Lighting crews work in the lobby to prepare for the Tuesday, June 19 press conference.

"This is our home," Bill Ford Jr. said during an interview in Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn. "We're not leaving by any means. By the end of this we'll have a large multiple of employees in Dearborn versus Detroit." Bill Ford Jr., chairman of Ford Motor Company, speaks about the purchase of the Michigan Train from the Moroun family during an interview from Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn on Thursday, June 14, 2018.

Reviving the depot and establishing Corktown on that mobility corridor will require tax incentives to renovate the building at its heart, according to Bill Ford Jr. A stairwell on the top floor.

Bill Ford said the depot restoration price "dwarfs the purchase price." Workers prepare for Ford's press conference to celebrate their purchase of the train station.