Delphi Flint East, former AC Spark Plug building bought for $3.15 million

Aug 12, 2023

A demolition shear checks in at the Delphi Flint East Plant 43 entrance on Averill Avenue in this MLive-The Flint Journal file photo from 2008(Stuart Bauer)

FLINT, MI - A shuttered automotive plant may see new life after a Wisconsin-based commercial real estate firm purchased the former Delphi Flint East industrial plant.

The 550,000-square-foot building on the property near Dort Highway and Robert T. Longway Boulevard was bought by an affiliate of Phoenix Investors, according to a statement from the company on Monday, Oct. 2.

Phoenix Investors paid $3.15 million for the property, the statement said. The release from the company did not specify what, if any, developments are planned for the facility.

Officials with Phoenix Investors could not immediately be reached for comment.

"Although we have a real estate presence in the state, this acquisition represents our entry into the rebounding industrial markets of Michigan," Senior Vice President of Acquisition and Leasing for Phoenix Investors Kurt Jensen said in the statement. "We are encouraged by the opportunity that strong tenant demand provides specifically in the Flint industrial market. A long period of blight and the prospect for future value-add improvements provides an opportunity in the coming months to immediately execute on a turnaround plan for this asset. We have been welcomed with open arms by community partners in Flint and we look forward to working with them as we renovate and lease this property to new tenants."

Delphi East closed in 2013 when the work for its 287 employees was sent to a plant in Mexico, according to MLive-The Flint Journal's files.

The company was created in 1999 as a General Motors spinoff and filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

The Flint location was the last Michigan manufacturing plant to hold the company's name.

The building on the property today was originally built in 1960 and requires extensive renovations, according to the statement from Phoenix.

There are 42-foot ceiling heights, 17 loading docks and numerous overhead cranes in the building, the statement said.

Phoenix cited low industrial property vacancy rates, "creating strong demand for this asset class."

"I am pleased to hear that our partners, Phoenix Investors, finalized the purchase of the Delphi East Site on Robert T. Longway and Center Road," said Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. "For many years, this site served as a place of employment for Flint residents and soon we will see more Flint residents report to work on that site."

The site also was once the world headquarters for AC Spark Plug, one of the most iconic auto parts names in history.

For almost 100 years, the factories on North Dort Highway produced countless spark plugs, as well as oil filters, air cleaners, dashboard instruments, fuel pumps and a variety of other products.

It was a site that has seen several incarnations, but for decades was the AC headquarters, overseeing AC operations in plants across the world, including Texas, Wisconsin and England.

In 1925, before it was a division of GM, AC Spark Plug bought the plant on Dort Highway from the Dort Motor Co., which had recently built the factory there to produce Dort automobiles. The Dort Motor Co. went out of business in 1924. When AC moved in, it increased the facility's floor space to nearly 470,000 square feet.

AC's operations were based on their original location on Industrial Avenue, at the old Chevy in the Hole site, which was razed in 1976.

At the time, workers at the original AC plant on Industrial Avenue considered the new Dort Highway plant to be flashy and new and short on character.

Two years after acquiring the Dort Highway facility, AC founder Albert Champion died while on a business trip to France.

In 1929, General Motors bought the remaining AC stock from the Champion estate and in 1933, AC Spark Plug officially became a division of GM.

A 1975 Flint Journal article, with the headline "AC to demolish Industrial Ave. facility this month" read, "The 60-year-old complex, built by AC founder Albert Champion, has been phased out over several years. Many manufacturing operations, machinery, equipment and personnel have been absorbed into the main AC facilities on S. Dort Hwy., where seven manufacturing factories employ nearly 12,000 hourly and salaried employees."

By the 1980s, the site boasted six factories as well as engineering and administration buildings.

The plant survived highs and lows of the auto industry.

The site was officially named Flint East in 1987 when AC took over the Chevrolet facilities across town and named that location Flint West.

In 1988, Flint East became the headquarters for AC Rochester following a merger between AC Spark Plug and Rochester Products Division, but soon the headquarters moved to the Great Lakes Tech Center.

More consolidation under GM's divisions led to the facility being renamed to AC Delco Systems in 1994, and in 1995, the entire Automotive Components Group became Delphi Automotive Systems.

On June 11, 1998, Flint East followed in the footsteps of Flint Metal Fab, taking part in one of the longest strikes in GM history. The 54-day strike for which Flint East was a part almost stalled operations for the entire company within two weeks.

GM agreed to the investment to Flint Metal Fab and to keep Flint East open until at least 2000.The union agreed to cooperate on efforts to increase productivity at both plants.

Shortly after the strike, it was announced that Delphi would be spun off in 1999 into what is now Delphi Corporation, and Flint East was for a time part of Delphi's Energy and Engine Management Systems division.

Flint East would fall back under General Motors' control following a string of financial downfalls by Automotive Holdings Group - a collection of underperforming plants that Delphi felt needed to be changed.

Delphi declared bankruptcy in October 2005 and announced plans to close or sell 21 of its 29 US plants by Jan. 1, 2008, including Flint East.

Another agreement was reached between Delphi, GM and the UAW in 2007, allowing the Delphi Flint East plant to stay open for the next four years.

The agreement meant GM would supply the hourly UAW employees, while Delphi provided the management and equipment. The products made at the site were instrument clusters used in GM vehicles such as pickup trucks, SUVs and large vans.

The agreement expired in September 2011 and the decision was made to extend that agreement for an additional amount of time before it was announced in Feb. 2013 that the plant would close for good in Nov. 2013.

"This acquisition will result in the reinvention of a blighted industrial property and lead to the creation of quality jobs right here in Genesee County," said Mark Young, chairman of Genesee County Board of Commissioners. "Having grown up on the east side, I understand the importance that the redevelopment of this property will have in the growth of Genesee County's economic future."

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