Mercedes Benz

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. expects to spend $740 million turning an abandoned train depot and several neighboring properties here into an urban technology campus, but it's seeking tax breaks and other incentives to cover at least a third of that cost, the automaker said last week. It's the first public disclosure of how much Ford will invest in the 1.2-million-square-foot project spread across five buildings in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, including the rundown Michigan Central Station, which is to anchor the campus dedicated to work on autonomous and electric vehicle technology. Ford is asking for local, state and federal tax incentives totaling about $250 million over 34 years, a company representative said. Ford said its investment in the campus, including buying the train station and developing 45 acres of vacant land, will not require money beyond what it had earmarked in 2016 to overhaul its product campus and headquarters in nearby Dearborn. The estimated cost ...