Toyota Motor North America Inc. opens new headquarters in Plano

Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA) is celebrating the official opening of its new North American headquarters today in Plano, Texas with a gala event to be attended by hundreds of dignitaries, partners and community leaders who will get the first glimpse of Toyota’s new corporate campus that reaffirms the company’s longstanding commitment to the United States. (Courtesy of Corgan) (PRNewsfoto/Toyota Motor North America)

Toyota is officially opening its new North American headquarters in Plano.

The $1 billion project includes a new campus where the Japanese automaker plans to move thousands of employees from California and Kentucky. The company says it will eventually employ up to 4,000 people at the Plano site — including about 1,000 new local hires. Ninety percent of the new hires are from the North Texas market. The news release said that the company has filled over 75 percent of the open positions.

Toyota says Texas officials will attend events Thursday to mark the move, which is part of the company’s plan to bring sales, marketing, financial and other services together in one location.

Construction of the 100-acre headquarters in Plano is not yet complete, but employees have been moving in since late spring. More are expected to arrive in phases through December.

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The event will be attended by partners, dignitaries and community leaders including the mayor of Plano, Harry LaRosiliere, and will feature performances by the Plano Symphony; a vertical dance group, Bandaloop; food from celebrity Chef Dean Fearing; and a tour of the campus.

“The opening of our new headquarters in Plano is an extraordinary next step in Toyota’s 60-year journey in the United States,” said the CEO of Toyota in North America, Jim Lentz, in a news release. “With team members from four different companies together in one campus location, we believe this will inspire greater collaboration, innovation and faster decision making as we turn to and lead the future of mobility, all with an eye on our customers.”

As part of this journey, the news release said that Toyota announced its “One Toyota” initiative three years ago. This is meant to bring together engineering, marketing, corporate functions, sales and financial services into a unified location for North America.

“The greatest resource we have here in the Lone Star State is our highly-skilled workforce that draws global businesses like Toyota to Texas every day,” said Gov. Greg Abbott in a news release.

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The project has involved the Texas community by including Dallas-based firms in the project such as developer KDC Real Estate Development & Investments, architect Corgan Associates and Austin Commercial as construction manager. Commercial real estate firm JLL was the tenant representative.

The new campus is made up of seven buildings with a large central courtyard which the news release says is supposed to serve “as the literal and symbolic heart of all social and business functions.”

Toyota is aiming for a LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The news release says that these steps include:

– Exterior landscaping with drought resistant plants to reflect the native habitat

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– 400,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system for irrigation use

– 20,000 solar panels for an 8.79-megawatt array

– A commitment to purchase all electricity not produced by solar panels from Texas wind farms.

“Our new campus has fun, unexpected and even playful features that reflect our commitment to be a world-class leader in innovation with state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge technologies,” said the general manager of real estate and facilities for TMNA, Doug Beebe. “It also is a great example of Toyota’s commitment to environmental sustainability.”

Toyota received a written statement signed by President Donald Trump from the White House to congratulate the company on the campus’ grand opening.

“We appreciate the support from President Trump of our continued commitment to investing in the U.S. and sustaining American jobs,” said Lentz in a news release.

Toyota’s 60-year commitment to the U.S. has included $23.4 billion in direct investment, 136,000 direct and dealer employees, nearly 1,500 Toyota and Lexus dealerships and 10 manufacturing assembly facilities nationwide.

Toyota will continue this commitment, the news release said, by planning to spend $10 billion over the next five years in U.S. capital investments which includes the money spent constructing the new Plano campus.

“We are so pleased to finally welcome all of Toyota’s team members to Plano and celebrate the opening of this wonderful new facility,” said LaRosiliere in a news release. “Toyota has already proven to be a great corporate citizen and neighbor, and we look forward to the continued impact it will have not only on Plano, but on the whole North Texas region.”

Construction on TMNA’s new Plano campus by the numbers:

– Over 5 million hours of work put in on the construction site by workers

– Over 142,500 yards of concrete poured

– 2,000 workers on site every day during the project’s peak

– The amount of Texas limestone used equals the weight of 340 Texas-built Toyota Tundra 1794 Edition trucks

– Over 12 acres of glass installed