Woodward Avenue (M-1) - Automotive Heritage Trail
Historic General Motors Building, MI

Since its completion in 1923, the 15-story former General Motors Headquarters Building, designed by Albert Kahn, symbolized General Motor's dominant position in the automobile industry. The building consists of eight wings projecting from a central spine and a five-story hipped-roof annex connected to the rear façade. It is the oldest extant General Motors headquarters building in Detroit, and its construction and completion coincides with the beginning of the Alfred P. Sloan Jr. era, which saw the company surpass its competitors in total sales.

As the nation's largest manufacturer of motor vehicles and, according to institutional scholar Paul F. Douglas, "the largest manufacturing corporation in the world," General Motors has profoundly influenced not only the American automobile industry but corporate organization and personal lifestyles as well.

Today the building serves as the public offices for the State of Michigan.