In November 1999, the company announced plans for the project to go up just north of the the North American headquarters of the company in Auburn Hills, MI. However, spokeswoman Melinda Wilson says the last eight weeks of automotive market turmoil, especially with the Chrysler Group, has convinced the company that now is not the right time to proceed with the project. "I can't give you a timeline about when we will reconsider this project, only to say it is postponed indefinitely," she tells GlobeSt.com.
The cancellation was an internal business decision, she added. "We thank the state of Michigan and the cities of Southfield and Auburn Hills for all the hard work that went into planning our move. We remain committed to providing a first-class working environment for all of our 800-plus (financial) headquarters employees," Wilson said.
For now, the finance department will operate out of the American Center building in Southfield. "We will continue to explore the most cost-efficient options within southeast Michigan for a new services headquarters," Wilson said.
The five-story facility was to be built on 24 acres as another step in the two-year-old consolidation of the Mercedes Benz financial services staff of Norwalk, CT and the Chrysler financial services staff. Plans included a large training and conference center and a five-story parking deck.
"The 800 merged employees are in leased space at the American Centre complex," she said in November 1999. "We were just running out of room. This will give us more room for more employees," she said then.
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