Ford Is Creating More Auto Jobs. Does That Make The Detroit Area A Good Real Estate Bet?

Posted on January 12, 2017

Ford has been making headlines over plans to bring car manufacturing back to the Detroit area, announcing at the 2017 Detroit auto show this week that the Bronco and Ranger are coming back to the U.S. in 2019 and will be built in Wayne, Michigan. This came on the heels of the automaker’s statement last week that it was investing $700 million in its manufacturing plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, where it will add 700 jobs.

In addition, Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler announced ahead of the auto show that it would invest $1 billion in plants in Michigan and Ohio, adding a total of 2,000 new U.S. jobs.

This news has implications beyond the auto industry, extending to commercial real estate.

Job growth can, as we’ve previously discussed, have a ripple effect on the local economy and affect not just industrial properties but also other types of real estate.

If more people are attracted to living in a particular area because there are jobs on offer, there might be an increased need for multifamily (or residential) housing. And if a community grows, there could be more retailers who need storefronts, and perhaps warehouses, to serve their needs and create still more jobs.

So if you’re a commercial real estate player who wants to get in on this, should you have eastern Michigan in your sights? After all, the new Michigan jobs are slated to be in Flat Rock and Wayne (Ford) as well as Warren (Fiat Chrysler), all of which are about a half-hour’s drive from Detroit, in the eastern part of the state.