An interior view of the Lego Group’s 1.7 million square foot factory at Meadowville Technology Park. (Images courtesy of the Lego group)
It would take a large number of Legos units to build a large new facility planned for the newest high-profile tenant at Meadowville Technology Park.
Governor Glenn Yongkin announced Wednesday morning during an event at the Virginia Science Museum that the Lego Group, a global toy maker known for its brick building assembly kits, plans to invest $1 billion to build a US factory in the Chesterfield Industrial Estate.
The 1.7 million square foot facility is expected to create more than 1,760 jobs over time. Lego plans to start the project this year and finish construction in 2025, and production is expected to start the same year at the plant.
The Chesterfield facility, which will handle the production of LEGO bricks and tool packaging, will be LEGO’s seventh plant worldwide and the second in North America. The other is in Mexico.
View of the factory exterior the Lego group plans to build.
The company’s investment in the Chesterfield plant is scheduled for 10 years. The Lego site in Meadowville will also feature an indoor solar farm that is planned to handle the energy needed to power the plant.
The Chesterfield plant is expected to operate toward its stated employment target within a 10-year period, according to a press release. The company plans to hire 500 employees to operate a temporary filling facility scheduled to open in early 2024.
Chesterfield officials said they have not been told who is competing for the project, and the project has been in the works for about seven months. Garrett Hart, Chesterfield’s director of economic development, said Meadowvale’s existing infrastructure and available land had made Chesterfield competitive in the process.
“It’s the importance of having sites ready to go. These guys were just looking at people who could start this year and I have Meadowville WASH in place,” Hart said.
The Lego Group owns 380 acres under contract in Meadowville Technology Park, where it plans to build its second factory in North America. The other factory is located in Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Chesterfield Economic Development Corporation)
The Lego factory will occupy a 340-acre site in Meadowvale under a company contract. The site is located at the northern end of the park to the east of Interstate 295 and is currently owned by the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority.
The sale is expected to end at the end of the summer. Lego and Chesterfield declined to share how much the company was expected to pay for the land.
The pool consists of multiple parcels with a total valuation of at least $22 million, according to Chesterfield property records online. Some of the parcels extend over the southern boundary of future Lego properties in Meadowville Road, making it unclear the exact assessed value of the land the company intends to purchase.
President and CEO Nils Christiansen said Lego was drawn to Virginia due to factors such as its workforce and transportation infrastructure, in his remarks during the event. He said the growing demand for Lego sets has stimulated interest in increasing the company’s manufacturing capacity.
Glenn Yongkin announced Wednesday that toy maker LEGO plans to build a manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County. (jack jacobs pictures)
In addition to Youngkin and Christiansen, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Commerce Karen Merrick, Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Chairman Chris Winslow, Denmark’s Ambassador to the United States Lone Denker Weisborg, and Carsten Rasmussen, Lego’s COO, also shared notes at the event.
The Denmark-based company has about 2,600 US employees and its US operations are headquartered in Connecticut. The company operates 100 Lego stores in the United States.
Chesterfield worked with the Greater Richmond Partnership, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Committee, for the project’s land, according to a statement from the county’s Department of Economic Development. Lego will be eligible for a $56 million performance grant from MEI.
Lego spokespersons did not respond to a query about who would be the architect and general contractor on the project.
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