Auto supplier Adient to move global headquarters to Detroit

Auto seating supplier Adient has announced that it is moving its global headquarters and 500 executive and leadership jobs to Detroit.

Adient also has bought the 10-story Marquette Building for its workers in Detroit's nearly filled downtown, the company announced Wednesday.

Corporate functions at sites in Plymouth and other Michigan locations will be consolidated downtown in about two years once renovations at the Marquette Building are completed. About 100 of the jobs planned for Detroit will be newly created.

Adient's decision continues a string of positive development news for Detroit.

On Tuesday, city officials and business leaders announced that work was set to start on a 410-unit residential development just north of downtown in Detroit's historic Brush Park. The Detroit Pistons said last week that the professional basketball team would return downtown from suburban Auburn Hills to start next season.

A new development of 218 furnished "micro-loft" apartments is expected to open downtown next June.

"Adient wanted to build their future in the city," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. "They could have gone to the suburbs. This sends a message to every major company in America that Detroit is a place where you want to be."

Adient separated Oct. 31 from Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls. Adient said it will invest about $98 million in Detroit. Of that amount, $75 million is for the acquisition and renovation of the Marquette Building.

A big part of the deal turned out to be the acquisition of a nearby parking garage for Adient employees.

Incentives for the deal, including property tax abatements, must go before the City Council.

Office space in downtown Detroit nearly was filled before Adient decided to move in.

"Now, we're in a position as a city — we've got to build," Duggan said.

The company said its presence is expected to generate about $17 million in income and property tax revenue for Detroit over the next dozen years.

Some of its workers also could decide to make Detroit's downtown area home, said R. Bruce McDonald, Adient chair and chief executive.

"Younger people will give it serious consideration," McDonald said. "We recognize that the next generation of people want to work downtown where the action is. We think an urban environment — in the long run — is the way to go."