TAMPA, Fla. — Real estate investor Hines plans to start building a large industrial complex on Florida’s Space Coast this year to help ease strained infrastructure at the world’s busiest launch hub.
Hines aims to construct up to three rear-load buildings totaling 60,000 square meters by the end of 2025 under the first phase the project, located close to Florida’s Space Coast Regional Airport, the nearest commercial airport to the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Coast Innovation Park (SCIP) could later span 279,000 square meters.
Ryan Wood, managing director of industrial development and acquisitions at Hines, said the company is targeting aerospace names and their suppliers that are struggling to find enough space for operations in the area.
“With all the robust growth that we’ve seen in the space industry along the Space Coast, it has certainly stretched the infrastructure,” he said.
While pressure the Cape is under to cater for a significant rise in launch has been broadly documented, Wood said the rising activity is spilling out into neighboring regions and increasing the need for more general aerospace infrastructure.
He declined to detail the companies interested in setting up operations at SCIP because of non-disclosure agreements.
“It’s a healthy mix,” he said, “of both existing companies that have a large and existing presence on the Space Coast, as well as new companies with some really innovative and exciting ideas needing access to the launch facilities and infrastructure.”
Because industrial Space Coast activity has grown so quickly, he said many existing companies occupy less efficient and older facilities and are eager to modernize their infrastructure.
SCIP would be optimized for activities such as light space hardware assembly, repair and mission-critical storage.
“Just five years ago we had maybe 30 launches a year,” Wood continued, but this is “projected to go over 100 launches this year. With that increase in frequency, you need to have access to the key materials in close proximity to those launch facilities, and so I think that’s where we’re going to see a lot of the demand here.”
However, he noted “it takes time to develop sites in Florida.”
Hines started working with locally based real estate firm Key Group on SCIP several years ago, and initially planned to break ground early this year.
Road boost
Through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund (JGGF), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $6 million award Aug. 22 to build a road directly connecting SCIP to the Space Coast Regional Airport.
The road is slated to be completed at roughly the same time as SCIP Phase 1.
The grant “was really the catalyst to now make this into a reality to be constructed next year,” Wood said, “and not just get stuck in the design phase.”
Hines owns an operates around $93 billion of assets worldwide.
But while SCIP construction work will use similar manufacturing logistics processes Hines has used since being founded 66 years ago, he said the project is its first to focus specifically on aerospace.
