DETROIT — Diversified Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. plans to invest $35.4 million over the next three years to update a plant near Detroit in support of new seating contracts.
The investment, which is supported by a $2.17 million grant from the state of Michigan, is expected to add 480 jobs at the plant located at 12800 Oakland Park Blvd. in Highland Park, Mich. Roughly 300 of the 480 new jobs will be entry-level positions, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said in a memo. Currently 625 employees work at the plant.
Magna plans to add 5,000 square feet to the plant, as well as at least 100 parking spaces and three shipping docks. It also will renovate current space as part of the expansion. Two new automated storage and retrieval systems will be added.
The company’s lease on the plant ends in December 2022, but Magna plans to extend the lease another five years as the expansion efforts won’t be completed until 2023.
Magna also received a State Essential Services Assessment exemption, which is a tax on personal property, worth up to $326,678 for investing in what the state defines as located in an “eligible distressed area.” Roughly 46 percent of Highland Park residents live at or below the poverty line and the city’s median household income was $17,550 in 2018, compared to the state average of $54,938, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Magna, which operates a technical center in Troy, employs more than 10,000 people in Michigan at 30 locations.
