General Motors’ one-time Pontiac division headquarters is set to be torn down, the latest example of the automaker’s diminished presence in a Metro Detroit suburb that shares the now-defunct car brand’s name.
No timeline has been given for demolition work on One Pontiac Plaza, a midcentury-modern office building that opened on GM’s Pontiac campus in 1970. The building, now known as Pontiac Engineering Center’s Building A, has not been used since 2020, GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said in a statement.
In its final years, One Pontiac Plaza housed GM global propulsion work.
“Its removal is part of ongoing site improvements to optimize our footprint and align with our business strategy,” Kelly said. “The demolition work will be carried out under a detailed plan designed to prioritize safety, minimize disruption to nearby employees and community neighbors, and meet or exceed all applicable environmental and local regulatory requirements.”
The building is the latest casualty of GM’s pared-down footprint in the city, where Mayor Mike McGuinness said the automaker once housed two GM divisions — Pontiac and what would become GMC — and employed as many as 33,000 workers.
Over decades, GM’s Pontiac workforce dwindled to 900, McGuinness said. He said the city at one point was home to the largest concentration of vacant GM buildings.
Pontiac felt double the pain during GM’s mid-2000s bankruptcy, when the company shuttered its Pontiac brand and McGuinness said GMC closed operations in the city.
Other GM properties in the city of Pontiac were sold years ago as part of GM’s bankruptcy. The 79-acre Pontiac Centerpoint Campus West and 74-acre Pontiac Centerpoint Campus Central were sold in 2014 by a trust set up by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Another GM building in Pontiac, 31 E. Judson St., is set to be renovated and reused as office space for Oakland County employees. About 700 employees are scheduled to relocate to the building next year.
McGuinness said Pontiac’s economy stabilized about 10 years ago, and major employers including United Wholesale Mortgage and Williams International have made use of former GM properties.
GM continues to play a significant role in the city’s economy, McGuinness said, pointing to the Pontiac Engineering Center, Pontiac Metal Center and Pontiac Redistribution Center. Nearby Orion Assembly also employs many Pontiac residents, he said.
Demolition of the former Pontiac division headquarters is “bittersweet,” McGuinness said, but he’s hopeful that pre-Trump talks of Pontiac investments to support GM’s electric vehicle business could still come to fruition.
“More bitter than sweet,” McGuinness said. “But I’m cautiously optimistic that there will be a sweet twist when they share what future expansion, construction, and investment can come in that future cleared site.”
sballentine@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: GM to tear down former Pontiac headquarters building
Reporting by Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
