Milwaukee Auto Jobs Will Move To Detroit
Stellantis building new Metro Detroit Megahub for parts distribution.
Mopar parts distribution center at 3280 S. Clement Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Michigan, not Illinois.
That’s where approximately 100 Milwaukee jobs will be headed in 2027.
Automaker Stellantis announced Wednesday that it is building a new $388 million facility, the Metro Detroit Megahub, for its Mopar parts distribution business in Van Buren Township, a Detroit suburb.
The Mopar facility at 3280 S. Clement Ave. in Bay View is one of five plants that will be consolidated into the new facility.
The megahub is a planned component of the 2023 United Auto Workers labor agreement. It was previously expected to be built in Belvidere, Illinois. But while that community’s idled auto plant is expected to be making the Dodge Ram pickup truck by 2027, it won’t have the parts distribution facility.
“The new facility, set to launch in 2027, will feature cutting-edge technology, including AutoStore automated storage and retrieval systems, ensuring a modern and safe working environment for employees,” says a press release. “The AutoStore system uses compact robots that navigate tracks above a high-density grid of storage bins to retrieve parts and deliver them to workstations, where employees pack and process final shipments. This advanced automation improves order speed and accuracy, maximizes storage efficiency and helps accelerate delivery times for customers and dealers.”
Stellantis, best known for its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, announced in February that it had sold the Milwaukee distribution facility and another in Michigan to Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors. The Milwaukee sale price was later revealed as $8.4 million via state real estate transfer records.
The automaker is leasing the plant until the jobs are relocated to Michigan. UAW-represented workers are able to transfer to other plants.
“Both properties are situated in prime locations,” said Phoenix’s Executive Vice President and Managing Director Anthony Crivello in a February statement. “We’re thrilled to add these properties to our growing portfolio and look forward to maintaining a strong presence in Wisconsin and Michigan. Collaborating with Stellantis was a pleasure, and we were happy to provide a win-win outcome for all parties.”
The company, which specializes in industrial redevelopment, intends to maintain the 43.5-acre site as an industrial property.
“Clear heights up to 21 feet, 40 docks, six drive-ins, and adequate office space make the property ideal as an industrial complex,” says the release. Phoenix says the property has 1.05 million square feet of space.
The complex, the oldest portion of which dates to 1921, was originally a factory for Indiana-based Lafayette Motors. However, the company was acquired by former GM president Charles Nash. Just a couple of years after starting production in Milwaukee, Nash consolidated Lafayette into his Kenosha-based Nash Motor Company and produced only Nash vehicles in Milwaukee. Nash ultimately merged with Kelvinator, an appliance manufacturer, and then Hudson Motor Car Company, after which it took on the name American Motors Corporation. American was acquired by Chrysler in 1987 and Chrysler later merged with Italian automaker Fiat in 2014 and finally with French automaker Groupe PSA in 2021 to form Stellantis.
The new plant in metro Detroit is expected to employ 488 UAW-represented employees, according to the company. But the current facilities, according to auto industry reporting, employ a combined 698 people.
In addition to the Milwaukee plant, the four other plants subject to the consolidation are all in Michigan and known as Center Line, Marysville, Warren and Warren Sherwood. Three of the facilities are located within couple of miles of one another in suburban Detroit.
As part of the announcement, Stellantis announced the Warren Sherwood facility will become an “e-coat uplifting” plant, an electrical current painting method.
2023 Photos
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