TeamNAFTA.com

Challenge

With Headquarters in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Eagle Ottawa is the largest global manufacturer of high quality automotive upholstery leather. The company has two facilities in Ciudad Juarez for finishing and cutting leather, one in northern and the other one in southern Juarez.

In late 2002, the company needed to increase production in response to additional demand. As a result, Eagle Ottawa needed to expand its operations in northern Ciudad Juarez from a 40,000 SF to a 130,000 SF facility. A particular requirement was that the plant needed to remain in the northern area, close to its existing labor force and minutes away from the Americas international bridge.

Eagle Ottawa invests extraordinary sums of money to train its workforce, and for this reason, it was imperative for the company to be close to its existing location. However, there were no existing buildings with the required size, and there was no available land inside the Omega Park. This case was appointed to TeamNAFTA.com professional Jorge Quiñones, who is one of the most recognized brokers in northern-central Mexico. 

Solution

The TeamNAFTA.com team contacted a labor transportation company, to analyze the impact of moving operations into the Bermudez Park, 5 minutes away from Eagle Ottawa’s then-current location at the Omega Park. The study concluded that there would be a minimal desertion of the workforce if the company decided to make the move.

With the data from the study in hand, TeamNAFTA professionals secured land in the Bermudez Park, where a plant had previously been destroyed by fire. After aggressively reaching out the investment community, Mr. Quiñones selected a top investment company that bought the land to construct a 129,000 SF build-to-suit facility for Eagle Ottawa.

End Result

Due to TeamNAFTA's efforts, Eagle Ottawa moved into a modern build-to-suit facility, on time and at a very aggressive price. The facility satisfied all requirements and the company was able to retain most of its labor force.