Fanuc America Corp. is planning to invest $51 million into a massive new high-tech robotics facility in Auburn Hills, Mich., next to its North American headquarters.
Property owners General Development Co. LLC and Fanuc finalized an agreement July 25 for the developers to construct the 461,000-square-foot facility on the 25-acre plot and sell the building and property to the robotics company, said Gary Weisman, a co-owner of General Development. He declined to discuss financial details.
The robotics supplier, a subsidiary of Japanese giant Fanuc Corp., aims to have 300 workers at the facility eventually, Weisman said.
The project is receiving a $1 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant for job creation, according to the news release. The incentive was awarded on the company's promise to create 100 qualified new jobs, the MEDC said.
It is also receiving a $3.5 million property tax abatement from Auburn Hills.
Construction is expected to start in the next couple of weeks, with completion set for fall 2019. General Development is handling the contract and design work, Weisman said.
The company will consolidate and expand operations from other locations in metro Detroit area to the new facility.
The facility will be used for robotics staging and light assembly for the company, which also delivers CNC systems and factory automation. It supplies various industries, including plastics, automotive, aerospace, food, consumer goods and medical.
Once built, it will become the third largest industrial building in Auburn Hills, behind FCA US LLC's headquarters and technical center and ABB's North American robotics headquarters, the city said in a release.
Fanuc employs more than 1,400 in North and South America. Its parent company had 2017 sales of $4.8 billion.