GM buys its Detroit headquarters for $626 million

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. said Thursday that the shaky real estate market convinced the automaker that it was a good time to buy its previously leased headquarters in downtown Detroit's towering Renaissance Center for $626 million.

GM revealed the May 1 purchase in a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM said it paid $626 million cash for the headquarters and $200 million cash for two office properties in nearby Pontiac.

The move comes in the face of GM's own business difficulties, including a $3.3 billion loss in the first-quarter, when Toyota Motor Corp. took the lead in global sales.