The General Motors logo is seen outside its headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan in this file photograph taken August 25, 2009. REUTERS/Jeff Kowalsky/Files

(Reuters) - General Motors Co GM.N said it will invest $1 billion to expand and renovate its sprawling 60-year-old technical center in Warren, Michigan.

GM said the investment will create about 2,600 jobs in core areas, including product engineering, information technology and design.

The Technical Center campus currently has more than 19,000 employees and has been the nerve center of GM’s engineering efforts since it was inaugurated in 1956.

The 710-acre Tech Center, which is just north of Detroit, includes 38 buildings, 38.3 acres of lakes and pools and 174 acres of parking space.

“I am very excited about the investment in the GM Tech Center in Warren, which means more jobs and new revenue for police and fire services,” Warren’s Mayor Jim Fouts said.

The renovation project will start this month and run through 2018, GM said.