Ford cancels demo, pivots to revitalizing Product Development Center in Dearborn
Top secret pricetag as details emerge
He uses the word “re-imagination” again and again.
Jim Dobleske, CEO of Ford Land, said the new Ford World Headquarters near Oakwood Boulevard and Village Road in Dearborn will be “expanded through a complete transformation, what I would really call a re-imagination, of the Product Development Center (PDC), which will actually become World Headquarters South.”
The automaker revealed on Thursday morning news about the workspace update. Ford declined to disclose the cost of what is soon to be called “WHQ South” but did note that keeping the building would be more cost efficient than doing a tear down, as originally planned.
The original Ford World Headquarters, known as the iconic Glass House, was initially expected to be refurbished but that plan changed based on unexpected costs. It’s being demolished.
“As we’ve looked at our overall master plan, and as you know, master plans are evergreen, they’re always changing and aligning with business strategy and what we’re doing. One of the things we heard loud and clear from our employees was they really wanted to be close to the product, close to their team members and close to leadership,” Dobleske told Shifting Gears.
“As we were looking at the opportunity (they thought), do we continue with essentially demolishing it, which was the original plan, or do we take advantage of the existing structure that’s there? Now there’s no question the PDC itself is tired. This is why this isn’t just a renovation; it’s a re-imagination. We are completely gutting that facility.”
When Ford built the new headquarters, and had to demo some of the PDC that opened in 1953, the company realized it was “very solid” and “really, really sound.”
“We’re really focused on making the overall employee experience the best it can be when they come into the office,” Dobleske said.
When finished, Ford will have built a skywalk to connect what is now the (new) World Headquarters with the Product Development Center — bringing approximately 5,000 additional team members into that new facility, he said. Ford will have close to 10,000 to 11,000 employees under one roof in the World Headquarters complex, Dobleske said.
In addition, Ford will have an additional roughly 16,000 employees within a 7 to 15 minute walk.
An estimated 2,500 workers are based at the new Ford World Headquarters now. That space will begin the second phrase of construction to add 2,500 more workers by the end of 2027, Dobleske said.
PDC — or World Headquarters South — will have an additional 5,000 new team members, with the first phase starting around June 2026 and finish toward the end of 2027, Dobleske said.
Then the second phase of World Headquarters South would finish at the end of 2028 or end of early 2029, he said. Employees will work in the area during construction, Dobleske said.
“Most of the folks have already shifted to the back portion, the west portion of the PDC, and we’ll renovate the east — kind of front side of the PDC first. Then we’ll be able to swap those individuals as well as put some of them over into the WHQ 1B phase. We’ll have a lot coming online, as far as seating and everything, at the end of 2027.”
Employees are required to badge into the office four days a week now.
The overall WHQ complex will be 3.3 million square feet, Dobleske said.
Dobleske acknowledged that employees have expressed concern about work conditions in recent months and they’re being addressed.
“We’ve heard those messages loud and clear. We wanted to make sure we were spending our capital efficiently. We fully acknowledge the PDC is tired. That’s why we intended to demo that facility,” he said. “… We did make some immediate improvements throughout that space.”
That included upgrading lighting, adding sit-stand desks and addressing HVAC system. It has been important for Ford to get that building to a condition where people can work there for the next 2-2 1/2 years while the company goes through the renovation process.
“We did make some investment,” Dobleske said. “Not only are we adding skylights but an all-new roof, all new mechanical … Every part of that building will feel new.”
Ford Racing will relocate to the World Headquarters South campus footprint, too.
“We are taking the south portion, floors one and two, for the racing team, to have them come over onto campus and be part of World Headquarters South,” Dobleske said. Because the PDC is not being demolished, Ford will retain a roughly 60,000 square foot garage space that will be allocated to the racing team, he said.
One of the old design studios will be repurposed into a huge fitness center of 30,000 to 40,000 square feet on the west side of the PDC. Planet Fitness is roughly 20,000 square feet, Dobleske said. “I think we’re going to get a lot of positive response from that.”
Workers will be made as comfortable as possible throughout the entire process, Dobleske said.
"I’ve been waiting to get approval to share this,” he said with enthusiasm.
CFO Sherry House and her team will leave the Glass House by early May, Dobleske said. Their move was delayed by the fact that her team needs an area with specific rooms and private space rather than the open floor model plan.
“We were making adjustments for Sherry’s team before we moved them over,” he said.
As of June, the Glass House will be an official construction site. A lot of the work to sustainably decommission that site starts on the inside, so people will notice fencing going up on the exterior while most of the work will be done on the interior initially.
Ford will save significant dollars by repurposing the PDC and it will evolve into something as beautiful as World Headquarters, Dobleske promised.
“I think team members that reside in that facility will be very excited. Not only because it’s new space and everything else, and there’s kind of light at the end of the tunnel for them. But this is what they’ve asked for … They want to be closer to their team. They want to be closer to the product. They want to be closer to the leadership team. All of that happens with the revision to this PDC space as we connect the buildings and update the facility.”
Ford employees have been posting their concerns for months on internal company chat sites, providing images and comments about cockroaches, wildly erratic heating systems and being surrounded by construction equipment and noise. Employees raised issues with Kumar Galhotra, chief operating officer at Ford, according to video reviewed by Shifting Gears. He acknowledged progress would be made.
“Our job is to ensure we continue to support and enable the business. That's what we’re doing and will continue to do it,” Dobleske said. “Think of all the renovation work that we’ve done across the campus, including the new world headquarters … that type of environment is what we will be bringing into WHQ South. It will feel brand new.
At the same time, Ford is adding a new parking structure out front with 3,100 to 3,500 new parking stalls for quicker access to world headquarters, that is scheduled to be done in 2027.
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I liked seeing the interior work in progress photos.
The western part of PDC is much newer than 1953, and very large. Glad that it’s being refurbished, not torn down.