Michigan Central's new coworking space gives Corktown's innovation campus a wider front door

Michigan Central Station opened The Mezz on its mezzanine level in April, adding a 17,000-square-foot coworking and collaboration space to a Corktown campus that's been growing steadily since the building reopened in 2024.

The space accommodates about 300 people at a time. Membership starts at $300 per month and includes 24/7 access to the station, along with desks, quiet zones, private conference rooms, collaborative work areas, a kitchen, and private wellness spaces. Members also get access to events connecting them with venture capital firms and university innovation programs, the kind of network opportunities that can take years to build through cold outreach.

For full-day offsites, The Mezz has a private conference room called "the retreat" that organizations can book by the day.

The opening extends what Michigan Central and Newlab have been building together on the station's campus. Newlab operates in the former Book Depository adjacent to the station, a 270,000-square-foot hub for hardware-technology startups that offers lab access and prototyping equipment. It's focused by design: built for companies that need manufacturing-adjacent infrastructure, not just a desk and fast Wi-Fi.

The Mezz opens the campus to a broader community. From software founders to corporate teams looking for a solid off-site, The Mezz gives people a way to plug into the Michigan Central ecosystem without needing to fit the hardware-tech profile Newlab was built for. Michigan Central members get access to events and connections that span both sides of the campus.

Ford Motor Company completed the restoration of Michigan Central Station in 2024 after years of work that returned the building's marble lobbies, ornate ceiling work, and 18-story tower to use following decades of abandonment. The campus today houses Ford offices, a food hall, retail, and event venues alongside Newlab and now The Mezz.

For Detroit's startup and creative community, The Mezz gives Corktown's innovation cluster a flexible entry point. The $300-per-month membership gets you a desk, a vetted ecosystem, and proximity to the hardware and prototyping work happening at Newlab next door. That's a different offer than a generic coworking space, and one the city's west side has been building toward.

More information is available at michigancentral.com.