By Mike Sunnucks | Phoenix Business Journal
The Phoenix City Council approved a measure yesterday to extend a Foreign Trade Zone and its tax breaks to Casa Grande for Lucid Motors planned $700 million electric car plant.
The city of Phoenix administers Foreign Trade Zone Number 75. The zones offer state property tax breaks and discounts on federal customs duties. The zone includes Intel’s campus in Chandler, Conair’s manufacturing in Glendale as well as Honeywell Aerospace operations in Phoenix and Tempe.
The council gave the go-ahead for the Phoenix officials to work with the city of Casa Grande and the U.S. Commerce Department on extending FTZ 75 to 496-acre Lucid plant in Pinal County.
The plant will total 1.5 million square feet.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia inked a $1 billion investment deal with Lucid last year. Lucid will use those Saudi investment fund for development of the $700 million plant.
The approval came in the midst of a raucous Phoenix City Council meeting centered on police budgets and the viral incident involving Phoenix Police officers and an African American couple involved in an alleged shoplifting incident.
