DEARBORN, Michigan: Ford Motor Company is preparing for a historic move, shifting its world headquarters for the first time in nearly 70 years to a new campus just three miles from its current location in Dearborn, Michigan.

The 2.1-million-square-foot complex, set to open in November, will formally carry the name "Ford World Headquarters." It anchors a larger site that will take on the name of the company's current HQ: the Henry Ford II World Center, honoring the grandson of founder Henry Ford.

Since 1956, Ford has called 1 American Road home, with its iconic glass-walled building long known as "The Glass House." When it opened, the structure was hailed as one of the largest office buildings in the U.S. occupied by a single company. That legacy is about to end, as Ford plans to vacate and eventually demolish the Glass House by 2027.

"When we move to the new headquarters, the 1 American Road address will move with it, because we're going to continue to develop products for the next century," said Ted Ryan, Ford's heritage and brand manager.

The new campus is designed with collaboration in mind. It will bring 14,000 employees within a 15-minute walk of the main building and house six design studios, more than 300 tech-enabled meeting rooms, and a 160,000-square-foot food hall. Amenities such as wellness rooms and spaces for mothers also reflect the company's push to modernize work culture.

Ford's executive chairman, Bill Ford, said the new HQ will help attract top talent. "To attract the best talent, you have to give them interesting problems to work on and great places to work," he said. "We feel they have interesting things to work on, but we didn't have great places for them to work — and now we do. It's a talent-attraction magnet."

The site has deep roots in Ford's history. The new headquarters sits where the Product Development Center once stood. This facility was inaugurated in 1953, and President Dwight Eisenhower made a live appearance via closed-circuit television. Legendary vehicles such as the Mustang, Thunderbird, and F-Series trucks were developed there.

Ford isn't alone in redefining its presence. Rival General Motors is also relocating its headquarters, leaving its landmark Detroit riverfront tower for a new downtown office.

As for Dearborn, the connection to Ford remains inseparable. "Dearborn and Ford are almost synonymous. If you think of Dearborn, you think of Ford, and if you think of Ford, you think of Dearborn," Ryan said. "Henry Ford was born just a few miles from the headquarters where we sit now. ... There have been multiple Ford family members who, as they walk in and they see the blue oval with ‘Ford' on the side of the building, they're really walking into their family home."

Soon, employees and executives alike will be walking into that home's next chapter.