General Motors is looking to build a new parts plant to support its production of electric vehicles in Auburn Hills at the site the Palace once occupied, the automaker confirmed Friday.
The automaker plans to spend $200 million on the parts plant, which will support the assembly of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup, and create about 1,000 new jobs there, according to Automotive News.
GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal declined to confirm that figure saying it was premature to comment on the jobs or the investment figure. But the plant would have about 350 workers per shift, according to documents filed with Auburn Hills, Automotive News reported.
Raynal said in a statement, “General Motors has identified the former Palace of Auburn Hills site as a potential location for a supplier park to support its Orion Assembly Plant, which will be expanded to produce electric pickup trucks. The company is still determining the scope of work and which supplier will have operations in support of the plant.”
GM will build the Silverado EV at nearby Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township as well as at Factory Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck starting next year. GM has said the two plants will allow GM to build about 600,000 electric pickups a year.
Orion presently assembles the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, but GM said earlier this week it will end production of the Bolt EVs by year-end to focus solely on Silverado EV production. At that time, GM has said employment at the Orion plant is expected to roughly triple there. GM currently employs 1,270 hourly and salaried employees at Orion.
Construction of the new EV parts plant is expected to start in July and be completed by November of next year, Automotive News reported. The facility will cover 87.3 acres of the site where the former Palace sat until it was demolished three years ago. The facility will have 1.05 million square feet of EV parts assembly and distribution space and an additional 50,000 square feet of office space, according to the documents filed.
The mayor of Auburn Hills did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Crain’s Detroit Business first reported the planned development in early March. The property is co-owned by a developer and Pistons owner Tom Gores, who paid $22 million for it in 2019.
The Pistons played at the Palace from 1988 to 2017. They are now playing at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
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Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.