Chrysler HQ designed for mall duty if automaker leaves

Leave it to our friends at Jalopnik to discover this most interesting fact about Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The 500-acre site that's crowned by a glass tower with a 35-foot tall Pentastar window visible from I-75 was reportedly designed in such a way that it can be easily converted into a shopping mall if something like, oh, we don't know, bankruptcy happens and the smallest of the Detroit 3 is forced to move out. How's that for confidence from your architect?

Jalopnik reports that SmithGroup, the firm responsible for the design, makes no mention of its creation's dual-use capability, though BusinessWeek published an article two weeks ago, before Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, that claims the site can go from auto HQ to home of the GAP, Lane Bryant and Cinnabon like a being from Cybertron. You won't be exchanging your Levis in outgoing Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli's office anytime soon, though, as the location of Chrysler's headquarters is not an ideal one for opening a mall. The traditionally economically depressed region couldn't buy enough polos and khakis to sustain a mall that big, and there's the completely awesome Somerset Collection not 15 minutes away in Troy, and it's got an Apple Store.

[Source: BusinessWeek, Jalopnik]