Michigan Central supported about $2.95 billion in statewide economic activity and 5,820 jobs in 2025, according to the campus’s first economic impact report, released July 30. The report, prepared for Michigan Central by consulting firm BJH Advisors, tallies what has happened in and around the restored train station since Ford bought it in 2018, and it puts the cumulative impact at about $5.2 billion. Here are the numbers, what is behind them, and the honest caveats that come with a commissioned report.
The Report at a Glance
| 2025 statewide impact | About $2.95 billion, counting direct, indirect, and induced effects |
| Cumulative since 2018 | About $5.2 billion |
| Jobs in 2025 | 5,820 total: 1,420 direct on campus, about 4,400 indirect and induced |
| Companies | More than 240, including 150-plus startups in more than 60 industries |
| Projected by 2028 | $3.2 billion a year in impact and more than 2,500 direct jobs |
| Prepared by | BJH Advisors, commissioned by Michigan Central |
What Is Behind the Numbers
The campus that produced these figures runs 30 acres in Corktown, anchored by the station Ford bought in 2018 and reopened in June 2024, with Newlab at the Book Depository open since 2023. The report counts more than 240 companies working there, including more than 150 startups spread across more than 60 industries.
The detail that matters most for Detroit: more than 40 percent of those companies relocated from outside Michigan. That is the number to watch, because it measures whether the campus attracts new activity or just moves existing activity around. The report also counts more than 3,000 young people and adults in its workforce development programs since 2023, and it credits the surrounding area with more than 50 completed redevelopment projects, six under construction, and 14 proposed.
“What moves me most is what is happening inside it, and who is now part of it,” Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford said in the release. Acting CEO Carolina Pluszczynski pointed to the pace: “In just three years, we’ve seen companies relocate to Detroit, startups scale.”
How to Read a Commissioned Report
A fair reading needs two caveats. First, Michigan Central commissioned this report about itself, and BJH Advisors prepared it for them. Second, the $2.95 billion is not cash in a drawer. It is an economic model’s estimate that includes direct spending plus the indirect and induced activity that spending supports, which is standard practice for impact studies and also the reason their totals run large. The hardest numbers in the report are the countable ones: 1,420 direct jobs, 240 companies, and the tenants you can walk past on a Friday night.
Even read conservatively, the trajectory is real. Six years ago the station was the most famous vacant building in America. In 2025 it anchored a campus that a projection in the report expects to reach $3.2 billion a year in impact by 2028.
What It Looks Like on the Ground
The report measures what visitors already feel. The station now holds offices, retail, and a steady public calendar, from free Friday events to seasonal takeovers, with The Mezz open on the mezzanine level and the NoMad hotel coming in 2027. Fast Company put the campus on its most innovative companies list in 2025. The full report lives on the Michigan Central site.
Michigan Central Economic Impact FAQ
What did the report find?
About $2.95 billion in statewide economic impact and 5,820 jobs supported in 2025, with $5.2 billion cumulative since 2018.
Who wrote it?
BJH Advisors, commissioned by Michigan Central. It is the campus’s first economic impact report.
How many of the jobs are direct?
1,420 direct jobs on campus. The rest are indirect and induced jobs the model estimates across Michigan.
What comes next?
The report projects $3.2 billion a year in impact and more than 2,500 direct jobs by 2028.