Ford moving world headquarters for first time in 7 decades to new campus 3 miles away

Ford is moving its headquarters for the first time in seven decades

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co. is taking a drive down the road in a couple of months.

The venerable carmaker is moving its headquarters for the first time in seven decades, relocating to a newly constructed building 3 miles (5 kilometers) away in its longtime home of Dearborn, Michigan.

The new 2.1-million-square-foot (195,096-square meter) structure formally will be called “Ford World Headquarters” when it opens in November. It is part of a larger campus that will take the name of the current HQ: Henry Ford II World Center. Henry Ford II was the grandson of company founder Henry Ford and the uncle of Bill Ford, the automaker's current executive chairman.

Ford’s current headquarters, located at 1 American Road in Dearborn and colloquially called “The Glass House,” opened in 1956. At the time, Ford said it was one of the nation’s largest office buildings occupied by a single company.

“When we move to the new headquarters, the 1 American Road address will move with it, because we're going to continue to develop products for the next century” said Ted Ryan, Ford's heritage and brand manager.

The new HQ is 5-10 minutes away and is designed to enhance collaboration and innovation by colocating corporate leadership with design and engineering teams. It places 14,000 employees within a 15-minute walk of the main building.

It will feature six design studios, a 160,000-square-foot (14,864-square-meter) food hall accessible to all Ford employees, wellness rooms, mothers’ spaces and 300-plus tech-enabled meeting rooms.

General Motors also is in the midst of a headquarters move, leaving its iconic home along the Detroit River for a new office building in downtown Detroit.

Ford’s new home base is situated on the site of the former Product Development Center. When it was dedicated in 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower joined the celebration live through one of the first-ever uses of closed-circuit television.

Some of the most well-known American vehicles were born there, including the Mustang, Thunderbird and F-Series trucks.

“Dearborn and Ford are almost synonymous. If you think of Dearborn, you think of Ford, and if you think of Ford, you think of Dearborn," Ryan said, speaking in the shadow of the hulking Glass House.

“Henry Ford was born just a few miles from the headquarters where we sit now. ... There have been multiple Ford family members who, as they walk in and they see the blue oval with ‘Ford’ on the side of the building, they're really walking into their family home,” he said.

Soon, they and thousands of others will walk into a brand-new home.