The original factory at one time was the largest in the world, consisting of 24 separate buildings contributing to the manufacturing process,[2] until 1928 when the Ford River Rouge Complex was completed and began operations.

Elements of the 235-acre (950,000 m2) complex dated from before 1904, when it was known as Flint Wagon Works; the first manufacturing operations at the site started in 1898 after Billy Durant and Josiah Dallas Dort purchased the Imperial Wheel Company and moved its factory to the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and St. John Street (now James P. Cole Blvd).

[3]: 2–2  After General Motors assumed operations, the factory was expanded to accommodate the manufacturing and assembly of Buick vehicles and components.

By 1915, the Durant/Dort Carriage Company had ceased operations, including the Imperial Wheel Works division; its buildings, near the northeast corner of Industrial and Hamilton, were incorporated into Buick, which started expanding north.

[4]: 2–2  In 1918, Buick switched production to the Liberty L-12 engine in Flint, supporting manufacturing for military aircraft and vehicles used in World War I.

Buick built rear-wheel drive A-body Regals, B-body LeSabres, and C-body Electras at the Flint campus; however, GM considered moving vehicle production to a newer facility that was scheduled to open in 1985.

Vehicle engines and components continued to be manufactured in the northern part of the site, renamed General Motors Powertrain Flint North, for approximately another decade; however, the remainder of Buick City was vacated by GM employees and site responsibilities were transferred to Motors Liquidation Company as of December 6, 2010.

[18] In 2013, American Cast Iron Pipe Company announced plans to construct a new 200,000 square foot manufacturing plant on the former Buick City complex.

[20] In August 2018, a 156,000-square-foot Lear Corporation seat manufacturing facility opened, built on 33 acres of the former Buick City site in Flint.

[3]: 3–7 Building 07 housed three fossil-fired boilers (coal or natural gas) to generate process steam and compressed air for site operations.

[3]: 3–5 These buildings collectively had approximately 225,000 sq ft (20,900 m2) of space and were used for site facilities engineering, maintenance and construction, and Powertrain laboratories.

Prior to 1981, it was used to manufacture front and rear axles; after the remodeling, it built "white metal" engine components, including pistons, water pumps, and manifolds.