John Gallagher

Detroit Free Press

Detroit's most famous postcard image is getting a major upgrade.

General Motors announced Friday it will build a new addition to its Renaissance Center world headquarters including new glass-enclosed display space to exhibit GM brands and a giant video screen facing Jefferson Avenue.

Tim Mahoney, chief marketing officer and leader for Global Chevrolet, said construction will begin this year and be completed in 2018. The new atrium-like structure will include 8,000 square feet of new space that wraps around the People Mover track at the RenCen.

GM will also reconfigure another 110,000 or so square feet of existing interior space in the RenCen as part of creating a larger, brighter display area for its brands. A closed movie theater will be repurposed and some long-time RenCen elements, like the oversized planters in the atrium space, will be removed.

Mahoney said the upgrades and additions are meant to help GM tell the story of its brands and its people.

"One of the platforms for telling our story is our headquarters," he said. "It's the Eiffel Tower equivalent for Detroit." When the work is finished, he said, "This will be one of those destinations you would want to come see when you come to Detroit."

The giant video display facing Jefferson Avenue will measure 70 by 80 feet and will be available for a variety of messages, he said.

The latest addition and upgrade are meant to convey a forward-looking, optimistic image for GM.

"This is what we consider a confident addition," said Daniel Schneider, an architect with Neumann Smith's downtown Detroit office. "Right now people drive by the Renaissance Center and say, 'That's a cool building.' We want them to drive by and say, 'Wow, what is in there? I want to go in there.'"

Two points not yet revealed: What the addition and upgrades will cost, and what new name GM might apply to the additional space. Mahoney said GM would reveal both of those in the future.

The brainchild of auto magnate Henry Ford II, the Renaissance Center opened in 1977 from a design by Atlanta-based architect John Portman. As the tallest building in Michigan, with its cylinder-like towers and confusing corridors, the RenCen instantly became the city's postcard image and a building people both loved and hated.

Several additional towers were envisioned but only two more were actually built, the 500 and 600 towers immediately to the east of the main complex. In 1996, General Motors bought the complex for its new world headquarters and embarked on what was estimated to be a $500-million remake. It gutted a portion facing the river to create the Wintergarden, ripped down the mechanical berms that blocked the RenCen from the rest of downtown, and championed the creation of the RiverWalk.

In addition to Portman's original design work, architects who have contributed to the reshaping of the RenCen over the years included Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gensler, SmithGroup, and Ghafari Associates. The latest addition and remake involves Neumann/Smith Architecture and EWI Worldwide, a Livonia firm that creates experiential design, exhibits and retail store design. Also involved is CBRE, Inc., the real estate firm that manages the RenCen.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5713 or gallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.