Power management company Eaton Corp.'s manufacturing presence got a significant jolt in October when it purchased Helen of Troy's headquarters and industrial facility in northwest El Paso, Texas.
The $50 million purchase of the consumer products company's almost 550,000-square-foot offices and industrial site called Helen of Troy Plaza anchors an $80 million investment by Eaton — which makes everything from golf grips to hydraulic power generators — to add up to 600 jobs in El Paso, where it opened a manufacturing facility in 2019.
The expansion's potential to rev up economic growth — including by providing jobs for graduating University of El Paso students that might otherwise leave the area — prompted a panel of real estate professionals familiar with the market to bestow the transaction with a 2024 CoStar Impact Award.
About the Deal: Helen of Troy, the only publicly traded company with headquarters in El Paso, sold the facility with the intention of eventually moving to another location in the city as its restructures its business, according to published reports. The company recently disclosed that it would move hundreds of employees downtown to the the 18-story One San Jacinto Plaza Building, owned by El Paso billionaire Paul Foster, according to the El Paso Times.
What the Judges Said: "The size of this deal is massive, and the fact that Eaton is excited enough about El Paso to invest in this magnitude is significant, and is a positive sign where our city is headed," wrote Laura Salome, managing director with SVN Fortune Real Estate.
"Eaton will bring a large number of jobs to the area," added Scott Lynch, association executive with the El Paso Apartment Association. "Many of the jobs with starting salaries of $80,000 will be ideal for graduating UTEP students, and El Paso has always struggled with maintaining graduates in the area."
They Made it Happen: CBRE First Vice President Rex Maingot, CCIM, SOAR; and Executive Vice President William Caparis, were the listing agents in the sale.
CoStar Market Manager Benjamin Freeman contributed.