Report: Ford directors briefed on Detroit train station plan

Ford's board of directors could vote as soon as May 10 on a plan for the Detroit automaker to buy or lease the Michigan Central Station, Crain's Detroit Business reported Monday.

Edsel Ford II told the business publication that the board "has been briefed" on the automaker's efforts to buy the station, which closed in 1988.

Ford is looking at making the iconic station a Corktown hub for work on the next generation of transportation with potentially hundreds of employees and workspace for top executives, the Free Press reported in March.

Edsel Ford told Crain's that the company board could take a vote on the major real estate acquisition proposal at the May 10 meeting.

"It doesn't need a vote, but it requires buy-in," Ford said.

Ford Motor Co. spokesman Said Deep declined to confirm Edsel Ford's comments.

"We do not discuss details of board of directors meetings," he said in an email.

"I can tell you that we are very excited about our return to Detroit this year beginning with our electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle teams relocating to the Factory in Corktown. We expect to grow our presence in Detroit and will share more details in the future."

Purchasing the station would greatly bolster Ford's recent move to buy and fix up the Factory, an old pantyhose factory in the area, for 220 members of its self-driving and electric vehicle team, known as Team Edison. Company Chairman Bill Ford has said the company is eager to re-establish a presence in Detroit, where his great-grandfather established the company. Edsel Ford II also is a great-grandson of Henry Ford.

Locating in Corktown, 7 miles down Michigan Avenue from the company's Dearborn headquarters, also is seen as helping the company recruit young talent interested in an urban environment. While the company told the Free Press in March it remains committed to Dearborn and updating its extensive facilities there, it has workers housed in the Fairlane Center shopping mall and dated offices.

Proposals to redevelop the train station, which has become symbolic of Detroit's ruins, have come and gone over the years. Negotiations with the depot owner, Manuel (Matty) Maroun, have been described by those familiar with recent discussions as complex and difficult.

The mayor's office and his redevelopment team are working to make a deal a reality, the Free Press reported last month.

Even given Detroit's downtown resurgence in the past six years, this would be one of the most significant redevelopment projects in the city so far.