Swiss train manufacturer opts for northwest quadrant area
Swiss train manufacturer, Stadler Rail, has selected the 100 South block of 5600 West near the city’s Northwest Quadrant for its first permanent US manufacturing plant. State officials will join company officials for the groundbreaking of its new plant on Friday, October 13.
Since early 2016, the company has operated out of a temporary facility on Warm Springs Road in Salt Lake. The new facility is part of the company’s plans for a 15-year expansion into the US. Company officials estimate that the expansion into Utah will create up to 1,000 jobs over the next 15 years.
The rail manufacturer, based in Bussnang, Switzerland, is one of the several companies expanding operations to the Northwest Quadrant plan area, the area west of Interstate 215 between the Great Salt Lake and State Road 201.
Over the summer, Amazon announced its plans to build a $250-million regional fulfillment center on the 700 North block of 5600 West. The fulfillment center will employ around 1,500 workers.
Amazon’s announcement came just seven months after POST Consumer Brands began construction on a 901,000 square foot facility on California Avenue and 5600 West.
Construction is underway on a new UPS Regional Operations Hub, on the 300 South block of 6400 West, several blocks to the west of the proposed Stadler facility site. The $275 million project will bring 1,500 jobs and consists of a new 840,000 square foot facility that will process an estimated 69,000 packages per hour.
Directly west of the proposed Stadler facility, construction is underway on the 214,391 square foot RWK Legacy Logistics Center, on the 400 South block of 5700 West.
Additionally, companies like RC Willey, Sephora, Costco Wholesale, Dannon and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints already operate distribution centers in the immediate vicinity of the proposed Stadler facility.
Despite the few thousand jobs already in the area, and the more than 3,000 more expected in the area next year, the facilities south of Interstate 80 are unserved by public transit. Of the five projects underway, only the Amazon facility will be in relative proximity to a transit route, Route 551 that connects the airport to the International Center.
According to the officials from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (UGOED), Stadler Rail’s selection of Utah for its permanent location means that the company may earn up to 25 percent of the new state taxes it will pay over the 15-year life of the agreement in the form of a post-performance incentive, not to exceed $10.07 million. The contract also includes both an Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax credit rebate and an Industrial Assistance Fund (IAF) grant of $500,000. The first half of the IAF grant is for necessary rail-related upgrades, with the other half of the funding available for facility upgrades upon permanent selection of the Utah location. Once Stadler Rail enters a contract with the state, it will be able to earn a portion of the total tax credit rebate each year that it meets the criteria of the contract.
Under an agreement with the state, Stadler will be required to have the total wages in aggregate exceed 110 percent of the county average wage. The projected new state wages over the life of the agreement are then expected to be approximately $575,819,608. Projected new state tax revenues, as a result of corporate, payroll and sales taxes, would be an estimated $40,275,601 over 15 years. The project could generate up to $30 million in capital investment.
Stadler had been considering locations in West Jordan, Layton and Clearfield but opted for the Salt Lake City location for its proximity to the Salt Lake International Airport.
