LANSING — The state is backing auto seat maker Adient Ltd. in its bid to move its corporate headquarters to downtown Detroit, awarding the company a $2 million grant in exchange for 115 new jobs.

Adient plans to spend $97.9 million to move its headquarters into the city after being spun off from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc. in October, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The MEDC's Michigan Strategic Fund board on Tuesday approved the performance-based grant for Adient.

The state did not disclose the location of Adient's new headquarters, but sources recently told Crain's that Adient will move into the Marquette Building at 243 W. Congress St.

"We are pleased that the Michigan Economic Development Council today approved incentives for Adient to add jobs in downtown Detroit," Adient said in a statement. "We will take these incentives into consideration as we make a final decision for the location of our new headquarters, and expect to make an official announcement in the next several days."

Adient's move would add another major corporate tenant to downtown Detroit, the latest auto supplier to set up in the city's central business district. Southfield-based Lear Corp. opened what it's calling its Detroit Innovation Center in October in the Capitol Park district.

The 164,000-square-foot Marquette Building is vacant above the first floor. If Adient moves there, it would be home to about 500 employees, including more than 100 new hires in such departments as legal, accounting, audit and treasury, Crain's reported.

The 115 new jobs would be in addition to 1,240 employees statewide, the MEDC said.

The MEDC said its grant was needed to offset higher costs of renovating the building in Detroit, compared with "minimal investment" required in Milwaukee.

"This, in addition to finding parking for the 500 total employees they plan on having at the headquarters and paying the Detroit payroll tax for its employees, puts Michigan at a large disadvantage," the MEDC wrote in a memo to the Strategic Fund board.

The city of Detroit offered a property tax incentive, according to the MEDC.

With the spinoff complete, Adient is the first Fortune 500 company to relocate its headquarters to Southeast Michigan since auto supplier BorgWarner Inc. moved to Auburn Hills in 2004.

Adient is tax domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, and is estimated to be worth $17 billion.

Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helu bought the Marquette Building for $5.8 million in 2014.