Plano Approves Toyota Incentive Deal
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - North Texas leaders are still bragging, and with good reason. Toyota will be moving to Plano. It is official. The city council voted unanimously Monday night on an agreement with the automaker. This is the largest economic development deal in Plano history.
Nearly a dozen representatives from Toyota sat in the front row of Monday night's meeting. As expected, the Plano City Council approved a $6.7 million incentive agreement for Toyota, which includes 20 years of big tax breaks.
But Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere also released numbers that project the economic benefit for Plano, estimated to be $7 billion over 10 years.
Toyota's move from California to North Texas is also expected to generate 760 new permanent jobs at the headquarters, and possibly even more depending on how many employees choose to relocate to the DFW area. "Those numbers are staggering," added LaRosiliere on Monday. "It's so much more than what they bring. Their families will be here. Their kids are going to play soccer and baseball with us. They're going to be terrific citizens that make Plano a city of excellence."
The automaker also opened up about why they selected Plano. In a statement, Toyota executives said that they evaluated 100 locations all across the country. Plano was chosen because of the cost of living and housing, low taxes and direct travel available to Japan, the world headquarters of Toyota.
But Plano is not the only city that will benefit from the move. Frisco was also on the list of places that Toyota considered. While they did not land the deal, city leaders said that it will be okay in the end, because the new Toyota headquarters will still be located just a few miles away. That will mean big rewards for Frisco, regardless of where Toyota actually calls home.
"A brand name like Toyota is a company any community would want," said Frisco Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Cheney on Monday. "We were looking for them to relocate here to Frisco as well. We're proud of our neighbors, Plano, for the great job that they did, and we're excited to have them in the region."
Even before Toyota announced that it was moving to Plano, there was a race to build more houses in North Texas. Several companies have been moving into the region over the last six months, and demand for homes is high. According to realtors, a home that sold for $425,000 last year is now selling for at least $500,000. And the city of Frisco still has plenty of room to build.
"We do have a housing shortage, however, the builders are out there building. Frisco leads the way in new permits, housing developments," said Lynn Slaney Silguero with Ebby Halliday Realtors. "There's plenty of housing for everyone in the future."
Officials in Plano said that many of the employees at the new Toyota headquarters will be earning six figures and they are expected to be looking for homes in Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Carrollton and Dallas.
"This whole area right now is very hot and growing fast. A lot of different companies are looking to be here. It's a great place to live, a great place to do business," Cheney added. "We're just really scratching the surface right now."
In fact, officials in both Frisco and Plano said that North Texas should brace for more economic development announcements coming within the next few weeks.
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