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Sep. 22, 1968
September 22, 1968

GM Headquarters to relocate to Flint

General Motors announced today that the company has decided to move its World Headquarters from Detroit to its Buick offices in Flint. [1] The recently-built Buick World Headquarters building houses the second-largest executive office in the company, after the main office in Detroit. The Flint office is located within GM's sprawling Buick City, one of the largest auto manufacturing complexes in the world. [2]

The current building at Cadillac Place has served as the company’s headquarters since 1923, but GM President Edward N. Cole believes that the current building is outdated and “inadequate”. [1] There have also been fears that working in Detroit has become unsafe due to crime and radiation. “Detroit Syndrome” (as it is called) has affected many of General Motors’ white-collar workers, blamed for a range of ailments from cancer to birth defects to heart disease. [3] The existence of “Detroit Syndrome” is dismissed by most public health officials, but as potential cases mount, some are beginning to take its existence more seriously.

The new location makes little difference to the company’s executives, many of whom live in the posh suburb of Bloomfield Hills, located midway between Flint and Detroit. Other operations will be transferred to the GM Technical Center in Warren and to their newly-opened offices in Manhattan. [4] No word on whether Detroit's other auto companies, Ford, Chrysler, and AMC, will move from their current offices. [5]

[1] Ironically, Flint (infamous for its OTL environmental crisis) is one city that may benefit greatly from this scenario. In 1960s, it was home to the second-largest base of operations for GM, thanks to the decentralized management structure of GM at that time. According to one source I found (“GM Building to Get $10 Million Modernizing”, Detroit News, June 3, 1971), there were rumors in the late 60s that GM would move their HQ to the Tech Center in Warren.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan_auto_industry#Buick_Motor_Division

[3] https://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/backgrounder/en/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Building_(Manhattan)

[5] At the time, Ford, Chrysler, and AMC were located in the cities of Dearborn, Highland Park, and Detroit, respectively. The latter two would eventually move to the suburbs of Auburn Hills and Southfield.
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