Aerospace giant Boeing to create global services HQ at Plano's Legacy West
Aerospace giant Boeing (NYSE: BA) has selected Plano's Legacy West to serve as the new headquarters for its global services division.
The newly formed company expects to be up and operational at the site in July.
"I am so excited an unbelievable American company, like Boeing, has chosen Legacy West for their divisional headquarters; it's an honor," Legacy West Master Developer Fehmi Karahan, told the Dallas Business Journal.
"Out of all the cities they could've gone to in the United States, we are very excited they chose us," said the president and CEO of The Karahan Cos., who has worked on the real estate deal for the past two months.
The new headquarters for Boeing's global services division will sit on the top floor of one of Legacy West's office buildings at the entrance of the mixed-use development off Legacy Drive.
An exact square footage has yet to be finalize with about 50 leadership executives and support staff at the site. This office will include Boeing Global Services top executive President and CEO Stan Deal.
The executive team for Boeing Global Services will serve about 20,000 employees throughout the world.
The central location in the United States will help assist in Boeing Global Services' plans for worldwide service, Deal said.
"We have a fixed focus on serving our customers worldwide, and this location assists in our mission of providing uncompromising service worldwide," he said, in a statement.
Last November, Boeing announced its standup global services division, which was formed to integrate the services and capabilities of the defense, space and commercial sectors into a single, customer-focused business.
At the time of the announcement, Boeing Global Services — the company's third major business unit — was expected to create a new headquarters by the third quarter of 2017, with a small core headquarters group based in Dallas.
The business unit decided to put its headquarters in Dallas because Aviallcurrently has a sizable presence in North Texas. Aviall Inc., a Boeing company specializing in aircraft parts, is located along Regent Boulevard in Dallas.
"While specific business details and additional leadership assignments will be forthcoming, the vast majority of the work performed by Boeing Global Servicesis expected to remain at existing locations for the foreseeable future," said Boeing executives in November.
By Boeing bringing its key executives of the newly formed organization to North Texas, this "opens up the world to Plano," said Mayor Harry LaRosiliere.
"It is their upper-level management with an exposure to an incredible array of companies from all over the world that will come and visit this location for business purposes," LaRosiliere told the DBJ."It opens the gateway for us."
Boeing Global Services are expected to ask for incentives from the City of Plano, which could go before council on April 10 or April 24. The details of the incentive package were not immediately available on Wednesday.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the Lone Star state continues to be a powerhouse in business expansion and relocation because of the economic policies that encourage industry leaders, like Boeing, to expand its operations here.
"I am proud to welcome Boeing's new global services unit to Texas and look forward to working with them further to continue their expansion in the Lone Star state," said Abbott, in a statement.
Boeing joins several other corporate tenants at Plano's Legacy West, including Toyota North America, JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, FedEx Office and many other companies setting up a corporate home in Legacy West.
Legacy West has been built within less than four years. Karahan plans to hold a grand opening for the mixed-use development on June 2, 3 and 4.