The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced that the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) 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.
The Piquette Avenue facility will become a major hub for Fortescue’s production of automotive and heavy industry batteries, fast chargers and electrolyzers.
Fortescue 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.
To support the project, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved:
- A $9 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant
- A 15-year, 100% 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 square feet of space, over six floors on 14 acres.
Fortescue through Fortescue WAE is a developer and manufacturer of batteries and zero emission powertrains for a wide range of applications, including motorsports, mining haul trucks and other off-road and automotive applications, with production and manufacturing already based in the United Kingdom. Fortescue is also manufacturing electrolyzers at a facility in Queensland, Australia.
