WALLER COUNTY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Tesla is actively hiring for its $200 million manufacturing facility in Brookshire.
The company has 40 positions posted on its website, including senior manufacturing engineer, welder, technical writer and various management roles. Link for jobs.
"I want to thank Tesla for investing in Waller County and Brookshire," said Vince Yokom, the Waller County Economic Development Partnership executive director. "This will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for their Megapack product. It is a powerful battery unit that provides energy storage and support to help stabilize the grid and prevent outages."
Ramiro Bautista, project manager for the city of Brookshire's economic development department, told the Houston Business Journal that Tesla will hold a job fair the week of Nov. 10.
Covering Katy News was first to report in March that Tesla was locating its Megapack battery manufacturing facility in Brookshire after Waller County Commissioners Court and the Brookshire City Council approved tax abatement agreements.
The Waller County Commissioners Court approved the tax abatement agreement on Wednesday, March 5, followed by the Brookshire City Council's approval on Thursday, March 6.
Tesla Plans 1,500 Jobs by 2028 in Waller County
Tesla has committed to employing at least 375 people at the facility in the Empire West Business Park, 100 Empire Blvd., by the end of 2026, according to the company's tax abatement agreement with Waller County Commissioners Court. That figure increases to at least 750 by the end of 2027 and at least 1,500 by the end of 2028. Tesla must maintain at least 1,500 employees through the remainder of the 10-year abatement period, which begins Jan. 1, 2026.
The Austin-based electric vehicle manufacturer expects to pay more than $1 billion in employee salaries over the 10-year period.
What Tesla Will Manufacture in Brookshire
The Empire West industrial park is located on Woods Road between Highway 90 and Interstate 10, a short distance from Katy.
During a March commissioners court meeting, a Tesla representative said the company plans to replicate its Lathrop, California, facility, which manufactures utility-scale batteries called Megapacks. The California facility produces 10,000 Megapacks annually, equal to 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage.
Tesla Megapacks are used to store electricity for large renewable energy projects which are not consistent producers of power. Solar does not produce energy at night when it's dark, and wind energy does not produce electricity when the wind isn't blowing and the turbines aren't spinning. Tesla's Megapacks store power for use during times when renewable energy sources aren't generating electricity.
Tesla's $200 Million Investment in Empire West Business Park
Tesla will lease two buildings in Empire West Business Park, which is being developed by Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners. The company leased the 1.04 million-square-foot Building 9 in 2022, though a third party was occupying the building as of March.
Under the tax abatement agreement, Tesla will spend $44 million on improvements to Building 9, located at 111 Empire Blvd., and approximately $150 million on manufacturing equipment including automated robotic welding cells, robotic assembly stations, automatic conveyors and gantry trains.
Tesla also plans to lease Building 10, which has not yet been constructed. The 616,463-square-foot building will be located at 103 Empire Blvd. Stream will spend $31.5 million on improvements to Building 10, while Tesla plans to spend approximately $5 million on warehouse equipment.
Tax Abatement Agreement Details
Tesla will receive tax abatements of 60% on the value of the improvements and buildings from both Waller County and the city of Brookshire.
"This is another excellent example of our spec building program, which has been used by Waller County since 2010 to attract new investment to the area," Yokom said. "Brookshire also implemented a similar program for Stream Realty to expand Empire West."
Stream Realty built the so-called "spec" building at its Empire West business park with no tenant on speculation that it would attract jobs and economic development. Stream will also oversee the construction of the new 600,000-square-foot distribution facility with some manufacturing capabilities. When completed, Tesla will occupy both buildings.
The deal has been developing for months, but Tesla has held the lease on the building since October 2021 where third-party logistics company DB Schenker handled Tesla parts. Schenker will be moving out, and Tesla will be moving into that building which will be used to manufacture Tesla's Megapacks.
This expansion follows Tesla's headquarters relocation from California to Texas in December 2021, after opening its 4 million-plus-square-foot Gigafactory in Austin.
Brookshire Emerging as Clean Energy Manufacturing Hub
The Brookshire area has attracted several clean energy manufacturing operations recently. TMEIC Corp. Americas broke ground this year on its third manufacturing facility in Brookshire, a 267,000-square-foot plant on a 20-acre site that will produce uninterruptible-power supplies and medium-voltage drives.
Turkey-based solar manufacturer Elin Energy moved into a 225,000-square-foot facility in Twinwood Business Park, and international water pump manufacturer Grundfos is more than doubling its production capacity in Brookshire. Indian solar panel manufacturer Waaree also has a presence in Waller County near Brookshire.
"This was a great partnership effort between Waller County and the city of Brookshire. I want to thank Joe Esch, who represented Brookshire and currently oversees the city's economic development program. He was instrumental in making the deal a success," Yokom said.