Fanuc plans 461,000-square-foot robotics facility with up to 300 workers in Auburn Hills
- $51 million in total capital investment expected
- Construction to start in the coming weeks; completion in fall 2019
- Building will be on 25-acre site next to its North American headquarters
Fanuc America Corp. is planning to invest $51 million into a massive new high-tech robotics facility in Auburn Hills next to its North American headquarters.
The 461,000-square-foot building will be at 1100 Entrance Dr. near Squirrel and Butler roads, according to Gary Weisman and Bruce Brickman, co-owners of General Development Co. LLC, which owns the nearly 25-acre property on which it will construct the new facility.
General Development and Fanuc finalized on Wednesday an agreement for the developers to construct the facility and sell the building and property to the robotics company, Weisman said. 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.
The new Fanuc facility will be built on a 24.34 acre site on the south and east side of West Entrance Drive in 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 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 people in North and South America. Its parent company had 2017 revenue of $4.8 billion.
General Development owns more than 1,000 acres of land in the area as part of the Oakland Technology Park project — a joint venture with Farmington Hills-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC — which has drawn $100 million in investment from major corporations.
In addition to the new robotics facility in Auburn Hills, Nachi Robotics Systems Inc. is planning a $12 million expansion in Novi.
