Hypersonic aircraft company development, northwest building demo seeking city incentives (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — The Mayor’s Budget Review Committee is set to review a proposal that will support the expansion of an aerospace and defense technology company and another for the demolition of a blighted building for new construction.
Under a proposal dubbed Project Heat, an unnamed aerospace and defense technology company is seeking to expand its operations in Jacksonville, city records show.
The Project Heat company is one that delivers hypersonic aircraft. It plans to set up a High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test facility at an existing Cecil Airport hangar and hush house for hypersonic engine testing, records show.
This would allow the Department of Defense to test various hypersonic technologies.
Project Heat intends to make a $135 million capital investment, with $37 million in tangible personal property, to test, develop and manufacture the hypersonic engine. The company will create 100 new full-time jobs, with an average annual wage of more than $100,000.
The city’s Office of Economic Development proposed a recapture enhanced value grant based on 75% of the increase in tangible personal property taxes generated at the project site for 10 years, up to a maximum of $2 million.
The capital investment to be made on the Cecil Airport land is not taxable, so the city is limiting the REV Grant to tangible personal property.
The State of Florida is also providing incentives for Project Heat in the form of a High-Impact Performance Incentive award of $3 million and a Capital Investment Tax Credit of up to 100% of the Corporate Tax Liability.
Another proposal recommends that the city support a company’s plan to demolish a blighted building in Northwest Jacksonville and construct a 300,000-square-foot building for industrial use.
The company is identified as Project Forte in city records, and the company says incentives would assist with infrastructure investments such as a new lift station, ingress and egress, storm retention ponds and utility connections.
City records cite that the project is within a distressed area of Northwest Jacksonville.
The building is located at 5421 Beaver St. A $35 million investment would be made for the project.
The city’s Office of Economic Development has proposed to provide an REV grant for the project of up to $1 million over five years.
Once construction of the new building is complete, it will be leased to tenants for manufacturing purposes.
Photo courtesy of JIA