The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) said that the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) has approved support and incentives for Fortescue, a global green energy, metals and technology company, to establish a U.S. advanced manufacturing center in Detroit, Michigan.

As Fortescue first announced in front of world leaders at APEC last year, the Piquette Avenue facility will become a hub for Fortescue’s production of automotive and heavy industry batteries, fast chargers and electrolyzers. Fortescue said it plans to rehabilitate the existing facility in Detroit and prepare it for a future manufacturing and engineering workspace. Production is expected to commence in 2025 and the site has the potential to create up to 600 jobs as product lines ramp up to 2030.

“Fortescue’s Advanced Manufacturing Center will breathe fresh life into the birthplace of the automotive industry,” Fortescue Energy CEO, Mark Hutchinson, said. “We are committed to investing in the next generation of green manufacturing projects that will help decarbonize business and heavy industry, and in turn create a strong future for manufacturing jobs in the United States.”

“By choosing Michigan for its first U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Center, Fortescue will create up to 600 jobs and build on our economic momentum,” Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said. “Report after report shows that Michigan is leading the future of advanced manufacturing and clean energy. Fortescue’s expansion in Michigan and so many of the other investments we are competing for and winning are helping us make communities across our state better places to live, work and invest. Let’s keep our foot on the accelerator and keep delivering on the issues that make a real difference in people’s lives so anyone can ‘make it’ in Michigan.”

To support the project, the Michigan Strategic Fund today approved:

• A $9 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant;
• A 15-year, 100 percent State Essential Services Assessment exemption valued at $1,300,950;
• State tax capture valued at $2,374,413 for the reimbursement of brownfield activities at the site;
• The City of Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority is supporting the project through the local portion of the brownfield work plan valued at $4,246,411, and the city has offered an Industrial Facilities Tax abatement valued at up to $7,684,208.

The new Fortescue site was originally constructed in 1920 as Fisher Body 23 and has 410,000 sq. ft. of space, spanning six floors on 14 acres.