JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The company behind “Project Bluebird,” a project that could inject millions of dollars into Jacksonville’s Cecil Airport, was revealed Monday as it seeks incentives to move its headquarters to the River City.
RELATED | Mayor’s budget committee approves incentives for potential $400 million investment at Cecil Airport
Recommended Videos
According to our news partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record, Otto Aviation is a Texas-based aviation startup that is considering building a manufacturing and production facility at Cecil Airport, and would invest about $430 million in Jacksonville across two phases, along with moving its headquarters to Jacksonville.
The reveal occurred at a Jacksonville Aviation Authority board meeting, which was accompanied by Otto Aviation stating its plans to develop a “next-generation” aircraft on 80 to 100 acres of vacant land previously used by Boeing Co.
Adam Slepian, chief strategy officer for Otto, said the company was drawn to Jacksonville following a years-long search involving more than 50 airports across a dozen states.
“It was a composite of the right economic development agreements, the right incentives, being in a pro-business state, and being in a super-growing region,” he said. “It’s a great team at the airport, and it’s a great place to recruit and retain the right talent.”
According to the JDR, Slepian declined to say how many other locations Otto is considering, or whether it had received other incentive offers.
The Jacksonville Daily Record’s breakdown of JAA’s incentive package that is being offered to Otto can be found below.
- A $22.5 million investment by JAA for site preparation and design/construction to extend taxiway E-1 to the property where Otto plans to build its facility.
- Abatements on rent and common area maintenance fees on Hangar 825, worth $3.73 million.
- Rent credits on Hangar 825, worth $1.5 million.
- Abatements on rent and common area maintenance on the development site for the new plant, worth $7.18 million.
Additionally, Jacksonville would provide a 20-year Recapture Enhanced Value grant of up to $20 million on $140 million worth of machinery and office equipment purchased by Otto.
Those types of grants, as defined by JAXUSA, are “incentives between the company and the local government [that] operate similar to a tax rebate on net new county/city property taxes.”
“Project Bluebird will further enhance our community’s positioning as a leader in aerospace and create a lasting and positive economic impact on our community,” JAA board chair Michelle Barnett said in a statement. “The JAA is committed to working with our city leaders to create an environment where industry leaders want to be.”
Click here to read the full story at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
