With its 70-year-old Glass House headquarters becoming outmoded and fading into history, Ford Motor Co. asked itself, “Where do we grow from here?”
The automaker is answering that question in part by converting the former Product Development Center in its hometown of Dearborn, Michigan, into its new World Headquarters South. Construction started in April.
Scheduled for completion in 2029, the expanded and renovated World Headquarters complex will accommodate 10,000 to 11,000 employees in total. The main new World Headquarters building opened in November 2025. At 3.3 million square feet, the combined new complex will cover twice the area of Glass House, formally known as the Henry Ford II World Center, Ford says.
In addition to providing modern workspace for 5,000 employees, the World Headquarters South building will house space for labs, testing and prototyping, and will also will become the new home of Ford Racing. Relocating the racing operation closer to the broader business promotes the transfer of learnings from the track into road car development, Ford says.
The overall World Headquarters project is part of Ford’s overall effort to enhance efficiency and collaboration with product development, and create a more cohesive working environment, the automaker says.
“As we deliver the Ford+ (growth strategy) plan, our teams must collaborate more closely than ever,” Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, said in a statement. “This includes connecting the Ford Racing teams who innovate on the track with their colleagues across the business, and help bring those advances to our customers' vehicles.
“And to power the best team in the industry, we're providing modern, tech-forward workplaces, plus world-class amenities.”
At World Headquarters South, those amenities will include cafés, markets, wellness rooms, reflection rooms, mothers’ rooms and a 30,000-square-foot fitness center featuring strength training and cardio equipment and locker room, according to Ford. A dedicated wing outside of workspace areas will provide space for meetings with vendors and visitors.
The renovation will see the façade refreshed and natural light increased by adding windows and skylights while removing interior walls and drop ceilings, the automaker says.
Construction of a 3,100-space parking deck, including electric vehicle chargers, is due to start this summer and conclude in 2027.
The original PDC opened in 1953 and over the years hosted development of the Mustang and Ford GT. As the building was expanded over the decades, it became “a maze that no longer suited modern product development,” Jim Dobleske, CEO and Chair of Ford Land, said in a statement.
As for the Glass House, Ford is in the process of completing the move out of the building. The automaker says the 12-story Dearborn landmark will be “sustainably decommissioned and ultimately demolished over the course of roughly 18 months so that the site can be repurposed.”
In a September 2025 letter sent to Ford employees, the company said: “For nearly 70 years, the iconic Glass House served as the nerve center of our global operations and we honor its incredible legacy. But the future of our industry demands a different kind of space — one that is more connected, more flexible, and built for the speed of a technology — and software-driven company.”
