Toyota Names General Contractors to Manage 'One Toyota' Construction Projects in Texas, Michigan and Kentucky

PLANO, TX -- March 25, 2015: Toyota today announced that it has selected general contractors to manage construction at three sites as part of the Company’s plan to build a new North American headquarters in North Texas and expand operations in Michigan and Georgetown, Kentucky.

In Texas, Toyota selected Dallas-based Austin Commercial, a contractor with operations in Texas, California, Georgia and Arizona, as general contractor in charge of developing its new North America headquarters campus in the Legacy West development in Plano. Austin Commercial has expertise in all types of commercial construction, and its previous projects include corporate headquarters, sports and health care facilities, schools and universities, and advanced technology projects such as semiconductor plants and data centers.

For its projects in York Township, Mich., and Georgetown, Ky., Toyota selected Walbridge and its joint venture minority-business enterprise (MBE) partner Devon Industrial Group as general contractors. Walbridge and Devon are both based in Detroit.

“We are pleased to be moving ahead quickly with these three projects as we work to bring our major North American business affiliates and leaders together for the first time,” said Osamu “Simon” Nagata, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. “I am confident that we have selected companies with outstanding track records, a strong focus on safety and real commitment to supplier diversity.”

To that point, Devon will lead management of the York Township project, representing the first time a minority and/or women-owned business (MWBE) leads a major construction project for Toyota. As part of the Company’s commitment to partnering with MWBE’s, Toyota aims to achieve at least 20 percent total diversity spend with MWBE entities at all three locations.

“Toyota has been a leader in providing opportunities to minority businesses so they can grow and develop,” said David Burnley, Sr., CEO of Devon. “We, in turn, look to mentor and aid a diverse base of suppliers so they, too, can gain experience in the auto industry and pass that along to other small businesses.”

Construction at all three facilities will begin in spring 2015.

In April 2014, Toyota announced that it would establish a new headquarters in Plano for its North American operations as part of a series of moves designed to better serve customers and position the company for sustainable, long-term growth. Toyota’s three separate North American headquarters for manufacturing, sales and marketing, and corporate operations will relocate to a single, state-of-the-art campus in Plano. Toyota’s North American finance arm also plans to move its headquarters to this new shared campus. Altogether, these moves will affect approximately 4,000 employees.

This initiative also includes expanding the Toyota Technical Center facilities in Southeast Michigan to accommodate increased investment in its engineering and product development capabilities, and opening a production engineering facility on the site of Toyota’s largest U.S. manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Ky. The new facilities are expected to be completed by 2017.