L3Harris Technologies, long one of Brevard County, Fla.'s high tech and defense powerhouses, is proposing a $294.1 million expansion of its Palm Bay campus that would create 201 high-paying jobs at the company, along with 212 spinoff jobs.
Florida Today reported July 10 that details of the proposal were revealed in documents filed with the county and city governments, as Melbourne-based L3Harris is seeking property tax breaks totaling $17.98 million from both municipalities.
L3Harris cautioned that it is considering five other states for the expansion, but winning tax breaks from Brevard and Palm Bay could help solidify the Space Coast for its new facilities.
The space and defense contractor wants to expand in order to build two separate projects ― code-named Project LEO, an acronym for low-earth orbit; and Project SAMT, an acronym for secure advanced manufacturing technology, the Viera-based news source noted.
Each project would be developed in separate new buildings on the L3Harris campus at 2400 Palm Bay Road.
New Space Hardware, Cybertechnologies to Be Developed
L3Harris said Project LEO requires a production facility for building and testing space hardware for commercial and governmental customers, including payloads, unfurlable space antennas, low-earth-orbit space vehicles and space vehicle constellations.
The company wants to build a 93,000-sq.-ft. facility on a 3.8-acre site, with an investment of about $70 million in construction costs as well as an additional $13.1 million in manufacturing equipment.
Project LEO would create 101 jobs dedicated to this project from 2024 to 2027, with an average annual wage of $104,805, Florida Today learned.
In addition, the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (EDC) estimates that Project LEO would create 103 spinoff jobs, with the total annual payroll of the 204 positions estimated at $17.08 million.
For its part, Project SAMT would enable L3Harris to expand its manufacturing technologies into new products.
The effort would require construction of a 105,000-sq.-ft. intelligence-cyberbusiness facility on 4.6 acres, with an estimated construction cost of $120 million. Secondary investments of $80 million for manufacturing equipment and $11 million in business property would also be needed to get that part of L3Harris's new enterprise up and running.
A total of 100 jobs at L3Harris will be dedicated to Project SAMT from 2024 to 2027, with an average annual wage of $110,869. The EDC estimates that Project SAMT would create 109 spinoff positions, with the total annual payroll of the 209 jobs estimated at $17.89 million.
L3Harris told Florida Today that, combined, both new projects would create 60 engineering jobs at the company with an average salary of $146,243, along with 98 production technician jobs with an average salary of $81,414. The highest-paid positions would be 10 program managers earning $208,848 a year.
The other 33 jobs are in configuration management/data management, facilities, material management, quality assurance, and security, L3Harris noted.
Tax Breaks Key to L3Harris Decision
The Palm Bay City Council gave its preliminary approval July 6 to a 10-year property tax break for the two facilities totaling $11.3 million. Under the agreement, L3Harris will pay just under $2 million in city taxes on the two properties during that time.
A second vote on the breaks will be held at a future city council meeting, Florida Today said.
L3Harris is seeking a 100 percent property tax break from Brevard County for 10 years. That would total an estimated $3.96 million for Project SAMT and an estimated $2.72 million for Project LEO.
The EDC estimates that, even with the county tax break, the two projects would generate about $9.61 million in new revenue for Brevard over the decade-long period, including for school taxes, which are not part of the tax break program.
As part of a three-step process, the Brevard County Commission was scheduled to take a preliminary vote on the proposal at its evening meeting on July 11, declaring L3Harris an eligible business under the county's tax abatement program.
If that proposal gains majority support, it then would go to an advisory panel, the EDC's Ad Valorem Tax Abatement Council, which would issue a recommendation to the county commission. The Brevard commissioners could then schedule a public hearing and vote on the proposed tax break.
L3Harris also would need to meet its job-creation and capital-investment promises to be eligible for the tax breaks, Florida Today noted.
The company said it also is looking at Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas as possible sites to build the new facilities, but the Brevard and Palm Bay tax breaks "would competitively position Palm Bay as the location of choice."
L3Harris already employs 6,861 people in Brevard County, making it the municipality's third-largest employer, behind Health First and Brevard Public Schools.
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