Pontiac — An ambitious project to move hundreds of Oakland County employees to downtown Pontiac is progressing on schedule and should be finished by fall 2027, county officials announced Wednesday.
The “Pontiac Project,” as some have dubbed it, will move roughly 700 county employees to the old General Motors building at 31 E. Judson Street, create green space and reconnect Saginaw Street and Orchard Lake Road by fall 2027.
The Oakland County Board of Commissioners decided to make the move in the first half of 2025 with the encouragement of County Executive Dave Coulter as a way to avoid maintenance costs at the county’s civic complex off Telegraph and as an effort to revitalize downtown Pontiac. It is not yet known how the current county executive’s building will be used following the move.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, Coulter said renovations are on track to open the new offices in September 2027. The project is also under the $174.5 million budgeted for building and road construction and under $66.15 million approved by the county commission for parking garages, said County Chief Financial Officer Brian Lefler.
Coulter’s and Lefler’s assertion comes after the county approved $174.5 million and received $50 million from the Michigan Legislature for the project in 2025 — something critics of the project have pointed to as money that could have been spent elsewhere.
“I’m not promising we’re going to be significantly under budget. I’m saying we’re not going to go over the budget,” said Coulter, who did not specify how far under the budget the county was on the project.
Last fall, county officials marked the demolition of the final above-ground structure for the former Phoenix Center Amphitheater as it was leveled to make way for the Pontiac Project plans.
Construction, meanwhile, has started on an above-ground parking deck, one of two planned as part of the project. The structure will hold 610 parking spaces, including 12 electric-vehicle charging stations, a 21-bike capacity rack, and a rain garden, according to a news release from Coulter’s office.
A second parking deck will have eight levels and provide 689 spaces. The two decks and a green space will stand where the old amphitheater used to be.
City, county and state officials watched Wednesday morning as crews lowered the first wall panel of the parking garage into the ground with a 300-ton crane.
“This parking deck is more than concrete and steel,” said Coulter. “It is critical infrastructure that will support new investment, bring hundreds of employees and visitors downtown every day and help create a more vibrant, walkable city for generations to come.”
The former Phoenix Center amphitheater was demolished as part of the project.
Oakland County Commissioner Angela Powell, who represents Pontiac, said some developers in her city have struggled to finish projects in the past, “and it all comes down to funding.” She called the Pontiac Project a “game-changer.”
“This is going to be a finished project, and I’m so happy that it’s going to be moving in a positive direction,” she said.
Pontiac Mayor Mike McGuinness said the two new parking decks will serve county and city government as well as downtown establishments like McLaren Oakland Hospital, small businesses and live music venues. He also said the green space at the new complex will host festivals and “serve as a catalyst for arts and culture.”
“It’s not just about the governmental visitors, the governmental services, the governmental employees,” McGuinness said. “It’s so much more than that.”
mbryan@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: ‘Pontiac Project’ to move county employees on track to finish by fall 2027
Reporting by Max Bryan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Max Bryan, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
