NS serving Toyota-Mazda in Alabama
The Decatur Daily (Ala.), Jan. 12, 2018
Huntsville OKs $320M in local incentives for Limestone Toyota-Mazda plant
By Marian Accardi
HUNTSVILLE -- The Huntsville City Council has approved a development agreement that includes $320 million in local incentives for an automotive manufacturing plant to be built by Toyota and Mazda in Limestone County.
The automakers plan to invest $1.6 billion in the facility, which will employ about 4,000 workers and have the capacity to build 300,000 vehicles a year, it was announced Wednesday. Operations at the 2,400-acre site, which includes a more than 1,000-acre megasite certified by the Tennessee Valley Authority, are expected to begin in 2021.
The council reviewed a breakdown of Huntsville's direct and indirect incentives at its meeting Thursday night.
State of Alabama incentives, including a 20-year, non-educational property tax abatement, jobs credit, construction sales tax abatement and other incentives, total $380 million. Morgan County is adding $500,000 in cash incentives.
"If you're passionate about your community, you have to invest in it," said Shane Davis, the city of Huntsville's urban development director, who made the presentation.
The council also held a public hearing on the proposed creation of a new tax increment financing district for 5,500 acres in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County, which includes the future Toyota-Mazda facility site. A TIF helps governments finance major infrastructure improvements, with the debt paid back through the increased revenue generated by the district's new economic development.
The proposed TIF funding would provide up to $151 million, including: an estimated $46 million for the Greenbrier Parkway extension, $28 million for the Old Highway 20 improvements, $7 million for sanitary sewer improvements and $68 million for property acquisition, according to a presentation by Davis.
The funds for acquisition would be used initially to buy the Limestone County property at the Toyota-Mazda joint-venture project site "to make that project a go," then possibly for other projects in the future, Davis said.
The first phase of the Toyota-Mazda project will include about 1,400 acres, Davis said Thursday during a tour of the site. Grading work is expected to get started at the end of the first quarter of this year or the beginning of the second quarter of this year, he said.
"There's a lot of dirt to move," Davis said. "It may take until the end of the year. ... I think late 2018, early 2019 you should start seeing some building construction." He said it will take two to three years to build the facility.
Davis said city officials are focusing on several projects: completing the five-lane Greenbrier Parkway from Old Highway 20 to Interstate 65 and finishing the five-laning of Old Highway 20 from Greenbrier Parkway to County Line Road to provide additional direct interstate access to the site, and putting in a rail spur to connect the project site to Norfolk Southern's main line.
The road projects should be completed by the end of 2020, Davis said during the tour.
The northern boundary of the plant site is a Tennessee Valley Authority substation north of Powell Road, the southern boundary is Old Highway 20, the western edge is Greenbrier Parkway and the eastern boundary is the railroad crossing on 20.
"It's a very large site," Davis said, and the size of the project "grew over time" from the "shovel-ready" 1,242-acre megasite certified by the TVA.
Production will be evenly split into two lines for each company to produce Mazda's crossover model and the Toyota Corolla. Battle said the project is a special one, with "two car plants working side by side."
Limestone County Commission Chairman Mark Yarbrough, during the site tour Thursday, called the project "multigenerational. Our grandchildren will benefit from this." The commission will consider Tuesday a 20-year abatement of non-educational property taxes. Cash or utility assistance is being provided by other communities including Morgan and Madison counties, Madison and Athens.
"It's a great industrial site," Battle said. "It feeds Decatur, Athens, Huntsville and a 14-county area across north Alabama."
NS will serve the new Toyota-Mazda auto plant in Alabama
The decision by Toyota and Mazda to build a major auto-manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, is good news for Norfolk Southern.
The plant is located on NS’ Memphis East Line, and NS will serve the new plant when it begins rolling out vehicles in 2021. Behind the scenes, NS’ Industrial Development played a key role, working with state and local officials to show how rail could serve the site.
“Our Industrial Development team worked extensively with Alabama and Huntsville economic development agencies to provide technical expertise on site development to help them compete for a rail-dependent project of this magnitude,” said Rob Martinez, vice president business development and real estate.
Martinez attended Wednesday’s announcement in Huntsville. “We look forward to working closely and collaboratively with Toyota and Mazda,” Martinez said.
NS’ team provided strong support to communities across several states that competed for the plant, said Jason Reiner, assistant vice president industrial development. The work included identification of suitable rail-served sites. NS provided considerable support to Alabama and North Carolina, the two finalist sites. NS had been working with Alabama on the site selected for the past decade, Reiner said.
“We have a very important role to play in the success of the communities we serve,” Reiner said. “We worked hard with the communities that were in play to help them be competitive, and this is a good win for NS and for the community of Huntsville.”
In the photo, Alabama and Huntsville officials join Toyota and Mazda chief executives for Wednesday’s announcement of the automakers’ plans to build an auto plant in Huntsville. Norfolk Southern worked closely with state and local economic development officials on the project, and NS’ logo is on the board listing business and government partners involved. Pictured from left are Greg Canfield, Alabama secretary of Commerce; Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai; Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey; Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda; Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle; and Mark Yarbrough, chairman Limestone County Commission.