Lego delays Chesterfield production start to 2027

Lego Group will begin production at its $1 billion Chesterfield manufacturing facility in 2027, at least a year later than originally planned, the Danish toymaker announced Thursday. 

The company also named Preben Elnef as project lead and Gray | Hourigan, a joint venture between Lexington, Kentucky-based Gray and Richmond-based Hourigan, as general contractor. 

Billund, Denmark-based Lego first announced the project in July 2022 and broke ground on its plant in Chesterfield’s Meadowville Technology Park in April 2023. The company expects to hire 1,761 workers over the next 10 years. When complete, Lego’s 340-acre campus will have 13 buildings comprising 1.7 million square feet, including office spaces, molding, processing and packing buildings, and a high bay warehouse. 

When Lego broke ground, the company said it would start production in late 2025. Factors that contributed to the delay include finalizing the agreement with the general contractor and assessing design and ramp-up plans. 

Construction of the factory buildings will begin later this year.

Lego has already opened a temporary packaging facility in Chesterfield’s Walthall Interchange Industrial Park in October 2023, ahead of schedule, where it has hired 200 workers.

“We are pleased with the progress we’re making with our investment in Virginia and grateful for the continued support from the local community,” Lego Chief Operations Officer Carsten Rasmussen said in a statement.

Lego’s vice president of workforce solutions and operations, Preben Elnef, will lead the project beginning in April and oversee all aspects of the project, including the Chesterfield factory’s construction and opening. Elnef was previously vice president and general manager for Lego Manufacturing in Vietnam and has been with Lego for the past decade. 

“I am excited to join the team. This is an important program in support of our mission to inspire and develop kids across the Americas region for generations to come,” said Elben, who expects to relocate to the Richmond area in the spring. “It is also a step towards operating more sustainably, as we’re building a site designed to minimize energy use. I look forward to continuing our important partnerships in the local community to bring play to more children in Virginia.”

The Chesterfield factory is Lego’s first U.S. manufacturing facility and its second in North America, the first being in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Lego established its American subsidiary, Lego Systems, in 1973. Although its Americas headquarters have been in Enfield, Connecticut, since 1975, the company is moving its U.S. headquarters to Boston in 2026. The toymaker employs more than 3,000 people in the U.S. and has more than 100 stores, including four in Virginia — in Arlington County, McLean, Woodbridge and its most recent in Virginia Beach. Worldwide, the company has more than 27,000 employees.