Michigan owns 48M square feet of buildings

If Michigan's government were strapped for cash, it could sell some of its 48 million square feet of office space.

MIRS asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on May 8 if the state needs all its state buildings it has, given that state employees work remotely

“We have shrunk our footprint, and we want to make sure that we can do the job,” Whitmer said. “We are always analyzing where there are opportunities to be efficient and without compromising the work that needs to be done for the people of Michigan.”

Whitmer answered questions as media outlets have pressed Michigan about why it won’t order state employees to return to the office.

Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained the addresses of the roughly 800 building complexes and 5,000 individual structures of state-owned facility space. The information came through a records request placed with the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. The state owns, among other things:

• More than 1,200 parks
• 304 multicasts (read: land containing radio and communication towers).
• 211 parking garages
• 704 prisons or correctional institutes
• 60 bridges
• 47 shooting ranges
• 43 game hunting areas
• 41 welcome centers
• 27 weigh stations

CapCon requested documents showing the number of state workers who work in person. The agency billed CapCon $3,465 for public information that would show how many state workers work in person and how many work remotely. The request asked for employee card and badge swipes, internal sign-in logs, memos regarding return to in-person work, and any individualized authorizations for beginning or continuing remote work in Lansing in January, February, and March 2025.

Michigan owns 2.975 million square feet of land in Gogebic County called Copper Peak — the largest single piece of property it owns.

Copper Peak is the largest ski jump in North America. It was constructed in 1969 at a cost of more than $1 million. Today, visitors can ride an 800-foot chairlift and an 18-story elevator to an observation deck, then walk eight flights to the top of Copper Peak. The site has not hosted a ski jump competition since 1994, according to the Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association.

Most of the state’s properties are office buildings (333), other buildings (21) or land. The state owns 16 warehouses, nine mixed-use buildings, eight parking lots, two labs, two mechanic shops. It also owns one hospital, listed as a P.O. box.