CAR Study Finds New Life In Former Auto Manufacturing Sites

ANN ARBOR — The Center for Automotive Research Thursday unveiled new research on transitioning former automotive manufacturing sites to new purposes, including a catalogue of the status of all closed facilities since 1979, and lessons learned from seven case study visits.

CAR, a nonprofit research organization based in Ann Arbor, found that 60 percent (267) of the 447 automaker manufacturing plants that have been in operation as of 1979 have closed; of those that have closed, 48 percent (128) have been at least partially repurposed or are in the process of transitioning to a new purpose.