The multi-story facility will be composed of office, prototypeassembly, laboratory, and testing areas. A three-phase buildingprogram is expected to allow the Technical Center to reach 100,000sf, with the future ability to increase to 215,000 sf.Ultimately,as many as 500 employees from at least seven Kolbenschmidt Pierburgauto divisions from around the world may be brought to the newlocation.

Sandra Knight, a spokeswoman for Albert Kahn, said it's tooearly to discern the cost of the development. Pierburg InstrumentsInc., a division of Kolbenschmidt Pierburg, employs 45 employees atits current location, a 28,000-sf, leased office and manufacturingspace, also in Auburn Hills.

Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG designs and manufactures systems forinternal combustion engines, and posted sales of $1.6 billion in1999. It is a division of Rheinmetall Group, a German corporationwith sales of $4.8 billion.