Toyota Breaks Ground On New HQ In Plano
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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Dirt will be flying in Plano on Tuesday as Toyota breaks ground on its new headquarters at the corner of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Legacy Drive. The sprawling complex will have nearly a dozen buildings across 100 acres.
The groundbreaking event included company executives and nixed the shovels in favor of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck rolling over mounds of earth, as a symbolic way of opening the automaker's new chapter in Texas.
James Lentz, CEO of Toyota's North American region, explained on Tuesday, "It's one thing to be planning all of this, going through the purchase of the land, start to go through site preparation, but to actually start to move dirt -- there is a permanence about that, and it gets everybody excited. I wish this was the day we could move in."
The biggest news for North Texans is that the carmaker is bringing 4,000 new jobs over from California. Although, it is not yet clear how many of those jobs will be current employees moving to the DFW area, or how many positions will go to workers already in Texas.
Plano beat out several other cities across the nation for the honor of being named Toyota's new North American home. Executives said that the company had to consider the cost of living and educational opportunities when looking at all of the potential locations.
The new headquarters is expected to be up and running by the end of 2016 or early in 2017.
