Sometimes even Cadillac bribes don’t work

Not even a $1 million state grant to renovate its swanky Soho office space was enough to keep Cadillac doing business in New York City: The company announced Wednesday that it’s returning to its Detroit roots by April.

Consider it an example of the limits of bribery as an economic-development strategy.

For the last four years, New York City has been the luxury brand’s home, but new CEO Steve Carlisle wants it back closer to GM’s vehicle-design and engineering hub, since “we have a huge number of launches ahead.”

Ahead of its controversial September 2015 New York City move — which aimed to attract more luxury buyers and increase its branding opportunities — Cadillac spent $12.7 million transforming space at 30 Hudson St.

Yet that didn’t stop Gov. Andrew Cuomo (a muscle-car enthusiast) and the Legislature from OK’ing a $1 million construction subsidy to renovate the showroom again.

Turns out, other things are more important for Cadillac, which opted to leave the money on the table. As John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany noted, it just goes to show that “businesses make decisions for business reasons.”