Business
The decisions made in board rooms and committee meetings can have lasting consequences for citizens and consumers. Communicating the complexities of who makes those choices and how they affect people helps to create informed buyers and a sense of shared community.
Toyota breaks ground on new North American Headquarters
Employees expected to begin move to region this year
With cowboy boots and the help of a Tundra pickup truck equipped with a plow, Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz broke ground on the company’s new North American Headquarters in northwestern Plano on Tuesday morning.
The 1 million-square-foot campus will be located on a 100 acre plot of land off of Headquarters Drive, and is expected to house nearly 4,000 employees as the company consolidates multiple corporate divisions of its operation; a move that Lentz said will help to better serve Toyota’s customers and the surrounding communities. (Read more)
Corporate moves drive city housing prices
Population, home values rose in recent months
As the population of the Metroplex continues to grow, a trend which many municipal planners expect to continue, some of the newest corporate neighbors moving to the city may be having a large effect on the residents who call the city of Plano “home.”
According to some residents and real estate agents, recent corporate moves such as the announcement that Toyota will be moving its North American headquarters to the Legacy Town Center in west Plano, bringing along with it thousands of employees from California, are driving residential real estate prices upward and potentially attracting more small businesses to the area. (Read more)
Creating a Downtown business community
City Council approves Service, Assessment Plans for improvement district
The rich history of downtown Plano reaches back over the centuries to when the area was mostly a rural farming community. However, not far back in recent memory, the area was not the hub of social and economic growth that it is today.
In October, business and property owners in the downtown district came together to create a public improvement district (PID) to expand and capitalize on the revitalization taking place. After approving the request, the City Council gave the OK on the PID Advisory Board’s plan to allocate its funds on Monday. (Read more)
Hope’s Door hires new CEO
Malatich previously served as director of business operations at The Samaritan Inn
One look at Jim Malatich’s resume will show that he is someone who has dedicated a large portion of his professional life to helping others. No stranger to the needs of some of Collin County’s often overlooked residents, Malatich has begun a new chapter in his career as the new CEO of Hope’s Door Inc. - a Plano-based domestic violence shelter.
Assuming the role this Monday, Malatich has become part of a team providing an invaluable service as one of the only domestic violence shelters for women and children in North Texas and beyond making the choice to escape abusive relationships. However, he said he is confident past experiences in his career will give him the understanding he needs to keep the nonprofit’s doors open to all who seek their services. (Read more)
Collin Creek Mall owners sell off property
City confident in property revitalization
One line on a quarterly financial report, could have serious and lasting impressions for the city of Plano and for one of what some may consider to be a city landmark.
Last Thursday, Rouse Properties Inc., the company that owns Collin Creek Mall announced in its 2015 first quarter report that as of April 30, it had conveyed its interest in the mall to its mortgage lender in full satisfaction of the mall’s multimillion dollar mortgage debt. (Read more)
Liberty Mutual confirms plans for Plano campus
Insurance company to bring about 5,000 jobs
On Tuesday, Boston-based insurance company Liberty Mutual announced to its employees that it will be looking to build a new campus in Plano in the Legacy West development.
Once completed, the Liberty Mutual campus will be home to about 4,000-5,000 jobs, joining other major companies such as Toyota and Fed Ex in the upscale development designed to complement the existing Legacy Town Center to the east of the Dallas North Tollway (DNT). After the completion of the $2 billion project and corporations begin to move into the area, Legacy West will boast several thousand employees per day. (Read more)