Aerospace Giant Seeks State Incentives for Plant for Long-Range Assault Aircraft
Originally posted by Candace Carlisle, CoStar News
Aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron is considering a site in its North Texas hometown for a new $429 million advanced factory, the company said in a request for state incentives.
The manufacturer is applying for a 10-year reduction in its property taxes if it decides to set up shop in a vacant 447,373-square-foot industrial facility at 15100 N. Beach St. in Fort Worth, Texas. The facility was once operated by Stanley Black & Decker before it consolidated its operations.
Bell Textron’s application through the state’s newly minted Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act outlines plans to build “a large-scale and multi-decade advanced aerospace manufacturing production operation capable of producing several aerospace products” for the company.
Bell Textron has toured and evaluated several sites for the potential plant and currently three states, including this site in Texas, are in the running. In responding to CoStar News, a Bell spokesperson confirmed its real estate search, saying, “Bell is analyzing several locations in multiple states to establish this facility, one of which is located in Fort Worth.” The spokesperson declined to share the names of the other two states with CoStar News.
“Bell regularly assesses facility sites that will meet future business needs,” the Bell spokesperson told CoStar News. “Following the [Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft] contract award in 2022, the company is evaluating sites to support large-scale advanced manufacturing operations.”
The multiphased project could create upward of 411 jobs with an average annual wage of $85,000 with a capital investment in the site of more than $600 million prior to the end of 10-year incentive period, the company said in its application. Initially, Bell Textron has committed to creating 75 jobs with an annual wage of $69,784.
“Property taxes in Texas are higher than the other finalist locations under consideration and a limitation on the school taxes over a 10-year period would provide the project with meaningful operating cost savings making the Texas location more competitive for this project,” the company’s executives said in its state application.
The company is also considering a nearly $2.7 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund, the state’s deal-closing fund, and a $1 million grant from the city of Fort Worth. The proposed project is located within its Northwest Independent School District. The school district, along with the governor, would need to approve the proposed tax abatement, according to the state’s program guidelines.
Bell Textron’s headquarters is located in Fort Worth where it houses thousands of employees. The company has been adding to its real estate holdings in North Texas in the last few years, and is growing its business with unmanned cargo flights.