DETROIT - Google's self-driving car project will open a technology development center in Novi, John Krafcik, who heads the technology giant's autonomous vehicle program, announced on social media Wednesday.

Krafcik said Google's self-driving car program has already had team members working in the greater Detroit area, and that "it's time to lay down roots."

"Many of our current partners are based here, so having a local facility will help us collaborate more easily and access Michigan's top talent in vehicle development and engineering," Krafcik added.

He said the 53,000-square-foot development center will first be tasked with equipping the self-driving Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans it's getting as part of a partnership with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Citing an anonymous source, Crain's Detroit Business reports that Google's self-driving tech center will be at 46555 Magellan Dr. near Interstate 96 and Beck Road.

The company plans to hire more positions for the center, but would not say how many. Google has more than 500 employees working in Ann Arbor and Birmingham.

Google and FCA announced their partnership earlier this month, and at the time said the companies will co-locate part of their engineering team to a site in southeast Michigan as part of the collaboration.

FCA will design and engineer about 100 minivans specifically for Google's self-driving technology, essentially doubling Google's fleet of such vehicles.

The collaboration marks the first time Google is working directly with an automaker on its seven-year-old self-driving car program.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed, and there is no licensing agreement preventing either company from working with someone else, the Associated Press reported.

The minivans will first be built at FCA's Windsor Assembly Plant, where the Pacifica Hybrid will launch in the fourth quarter of this year, and Google will outfit them with its technology in Michigan.

Google has been testing its self-driving cars in four U.S. cities in California, Texas, Washington and Arizona.

Google said its self-driving car program aims to bring mobility to the millions of people who cannot drive. The company also sees it as a potentially life-saving development that could help prevent some of the some 33,000 traffic deaths that occur each year in the U.S.

David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.