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player ready...Dignitaries from Lear Corp. joined Hammond officials to break ground Nov. 1 on its new seat manufacturing plant on a 30-acre plot at 2204 Michigan St.
Construction is slated to start soon on the 240,000 square-foot facility and will re-consolidate its Hammond and Portage plants.
Matt Moroun, chairman of Warren, Mich.-based Crown Enterprises Inc., told the crowd the Midwest has watched a lot of capital disappear over the years.
“This is fresh, brand-new capital to serve the automotive industry. It’s going to give this area of the country a competitive advantage for years to come. It’s perfect,” Moroun said, adding that the new plant is Crown’s second in Hammond. The first was a Walmart Consolidation Center on 141st Street, he said.
Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said the new construction is the city’s first big manufacturing project since 2013, when Munster Steel relocated to the city. It’ll continue to provide Hammond residents with well-paying, union jobs.
“We love Lear, always have,” he said. “We knew you were doing well when you outgrew the plant.”
The Redevelopment Commission in July approved a $4 million incentive plan for Lear to move to the 30-acre parcel east of Indianapolis Boulevard on the south side of Michigan Street from its current facility on 165th Street. The city will give the car seat maker $4 million toward its expansion, which will include a $26 million factory and at least 200 new employees to start, bringing the total to 750 from a current 550 and with the potential for 875 workers, officials said.
The expansion deal is the larges the city has approved in at least nine years, former Planning and Development Director and now Hammond Chief of Staff Phil Taillon said previously.
The $4 million is expected to come from a short-term bond to be paid back through tax-increment financing money from the Hammond Central Allocation Area. The city will also help Lear with the permitting process.
Lear has operated in Hammond since 1994 and outgrew its 100,000-square-foot facility on 165th Street, according to Lear Hammond Plant Manager Mike Segvich. It moved approximately 300 workers to Portage in May 2015.
“We wanted to stay in Hammond, but we know space in the city is hard to find,” Segvich said. “As we were exploring options, we were very fortunate that this land was available for lease.”
Segvich said the new plant should be up and running by April 2019 in order to start producing for 2020 model-year SUVs.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelane reporter for the Post-Tribune.