The Palace is gone, but the crowds are coming back in a very different way.
General Motors has bought the 109-acre redevelopment site at the former Palace of Auburn Hills, locking it in for industrial use tied to the automaker’s nearby assembly operations. The dormant arena footprint is now slated to become a supplier campus that city and state officials say will bring hundreds of manufacturing jobs to Auburn Hills. After years of planning work and public grants aimed at reviving the property, the purchase is the clearest sign yet that the site is being remade for automotive supply work. Residents, however, should brace for a long construction stretch and new truck traffic where concerts and games once packed the parking lots.
Crain's Detroit Business first reported the transaction today, noting that GM closed on the large development after more than two years of planning and permitting. The outlet framed the deal as the latest move in turning the former arena site into a supplier and logistics hub that will feed work at GM’s nearby Orion Assembly plant.
Who will operate the new building
Piston Automotive, the supplier founded by former Detroit Pistons player Vinnie Johnson, has been identified in state filings as the company that plans to lease a newly built facility on the Palace property. According to a press release from the state, Piston has a multi-year contract to assemble component modules for a new GM electric pickup, and the Auburn Hills operation is expected to generate roughly $85.2 million in private investment and about 900 jobs, supported in part by state incentives, per Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Office.
Size, cost and schedule
Local reporting and planning records have offered different estimates of how big the complex will ultimately be. FOX 2 Detroit reported that the primary building is expected to be roughly 715,000 square feet with an estimated construction cost near $200 million. Planning-commission materials cited in other coverage have floated a broader campus concept as large as about 1.1 million square feet. WXYZ and city filings indicate that the final size and phasing still depend on tenant agreements and permit approvals.
Roadwork and neighborhood impact
State and local officials are already teeing up infrastructure work to handle the traffic surge tied to the project. Coverage of the redevelopment notes a Transportation Economic Development Fund award and related local contributions to widen lanes, rework crossings and modernize traffic signals along M-24 (Lapeer Road) in order to handle thousands of new daily vehicle trips tied to the supplier center. An MDOT grant for road upgrades and city statements say the funding is intended to keep nearby neighborhoods from getting choked by gridlock as the campus ramps up.
What’s next
With GM’s purchase complete, the project now shifts into the permitting and construction phase, overseen by developer PAH Real Estate, a subsidiary of Schostak Brothers & Co., along with the city of Auburn Hills. City planning documents and earlier staff updates show that permit drawings have already been submitted, and officials expect staged construction to begin once final approvals and road improvements are in place. The exact construction and occupancy schedule will hinge on remaining permits and supplier fit-out timelines. For more background on the earlier planning process and state involvement, the City of Auburn Hills has posted additional information online.
