The University of Michigan will break ground in late 2023 on a $250 million research and education building in Detroit. Designed by KPF, the University of Michigan Center for Innovation (UMCI) will accommodate graduate programs in computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, financial technology, and sustainability. The 200,000-sf facility will also foster engagement with area residents by offering professional development classes, certificate courses, and workforce training opportunities. Featuring collaboration spaces for shared discovery with industry partners, the technology-rich structure will include flexible conference and event venues to promote knowledge exchange and the exploration of interdisciplinary synergies. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2026. 

Sited on four acres of donate land, the transformative project is part of a $1.5 billion initiative to reimagine The District Detroit as a dynamic live-work ecosystem where corporate and community interests coalesce to drive regional economic growth. The innovation center, which has gone through several iterations since first announced in 2019, would originally have been delivered by a developer-led team until the University of Michigan assumed responsibility for its construction in March of 2023.