Abandoned Foxconn Building Finds New Life

It will create 100 jobs in a much different industry.

A relatively new building used by technology giant Foxconn is soon to be used for the food industry and create over 100 jobs in southeast Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Feb. 4 that natural food coloring maker Oterra has reached development deals with local municipal authorities to take over the former Foxconn Opus building in Mount Pleasant.

The building was built there in 2016 and was the first facility Foxconn occupied when it began developing a massive manufacturing campus. The project originally was to be a $10 billion investment that would create 13,000 jobs when it was announced by President Donald Trump in July 2017. That was eventually scaled all the way down to $672 million and 1,400 jobs by the spring of 2021.

Foxconn abandoned the Opus building after building four other buildings on its Mount Pleasant property.

The Journal cited a statement from Oterra CEO Odd Erik Hansen saying the company expects to begin installing production equipment immediately, with operations set to begin in early 2024.

Denmark-based Oterra has a nearby Wisconsin manufacturing campus in Milwaukee’s West Allis suburb. The company makes food coloring for beverages, packaged foods, plant-based products and pet food.

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