EV startup Faraday Future is reportedly eyeing Mare Island near San Francisco as the site for its new manufacturing facility. A council meeting has been set up for May 31 in Vallejo, Calif. to negotiate an agreement with the automaker, reports the Vallejo Times-Herald. If the deal goes as planned, the auto facility will be the first one built from the ground up in California in decades, and it will bring a large infusion of cash through investments.
“When we first started marketing this property, our first objective was good-paying jobs with green technology and an employer willing and able to make the necessary investment,” said Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis in an announcement. “Faraday Future and its plans to make Vallejo its second manufacturing site and bring green technology to Mare Island checks all the boxes.”
Currently, FF employs more than 760 people in the U.S. and another 200 worldwide. The automaker already said it would invest $1 billion in its first factory, which will be located in Nevada.
The startup introduced its first concept car, the FF Zero, earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Vallejo city officials said that the startup selected Mare Island after evaluating 187 sites nationwide due to its proximity to Silicon Valley and because of the strong market for electric cars in that area. The automaker’s second manufacturing plant will be on a 157-acre property and will come with entitlements for more than 1 million square feet of light industrial, office, and commercial space.
The Exclusive Right to Negotiate agreement has been set for consideration on May 31 and will provide the timeline and negotiation terms between FF and the city of Vallejo. Part of the agreement includes a six-month negotiation period and two potential 90-day extensions. According to a city staff report, during negotiations, both parties will work to refine the project concept and address factors including the number of jobs that will be created, the timing of the construction, and the scale of the buildings. “Faraday Future recognizes that the site requires backbone infrastructure, demolition of existing buildings, and other site work to address the geotechnical conditions that are estimated to exceed $50 million,” said city staff.
Should a final agreement be reached, the city is expected to give the site to FF in “as is” condition due to the large amount of work required to rehabilitate the property. The startup will also be required to pay a $200,000 fee to the city along with Vallejo’s legal and consultant fees, which according to city staff, are expected to total at least $372,000.
The site for FF’s second car manufacturing facility was once the site of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. That facility closed in 1997 and is now part of two redevelopment initiatives for Mare Island. According to the announcement, FF’s plan includes the construction of a light industrial facility that will produce electric vehicles along with an experience center where its customers can learn about its products and technologies, observe the manufacturing process, take delivery of vehicles, and test drive vehicles. The startup’s North Las Vegas plant is expected to come online sometime in the next few years.
Source: Vallejo Times-Herald
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