A French-Canadian baked goods company could put its first Texas manufacturing facility in North Texas.
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A French-Canadian baked goods company could put its first Texas manufacturing facility in Lancaster, south of Dallas, and invest more than $400 million.
Bridor USA Inc. is deciding between Lancaster and a location outside the state as the site for its next plant, Lancaster Economic Development Director Shane Shepard said.
If the company selects Lancaster, it could invest roughly $410 million over more than a decade and create 171 jobs, according to recent public documents.
It appears the facility would be located on a roughly 49-acre tract at 2101 and 2421 E. Belt Line Road. The Lancaster Planning and Zoning Commission voted Nov. 5 to change the zoning for the site to allow for a large-scale industrial bakery with no retail uses.
Efforts to reach Bridor for comment were unsuccessful. A broker representing the property, Trey Fricke with Lee & Associates, declined to comment.
Lancaster City Council on Dec. 9 approved a roughly $3 million performance agreement and an economic development agreement for the potential three-phase industrial project. The incentives package treats each phase as a separate project and gives the company “certainty that Lancaster is business-friendly now and will continue to be while investments and jobs increase,” Shepard said.
Phase one of the project would be a roughly 150,000-square-foot facility that created about 111 jobs with a median wage of $29 per hour. Under the terms of the incentives deal, this first phase would need to be completed by January 2030. The investment for this phase is estimated to be $110 million.
The second phase could increase the property to 300,000 square feet and add 30 jobs while a third phase could expand the site to 450,000 square feet and increase the total jobs to 171. The additional phases would need to be delivered by the end of 2039.
If the company meets all the requirements for phase one of its project, Bridor is eligible to receive $1 million once it’s operational and an additional $1 million once it’s met job creation and investment thresholds. The company is also eligible to receive an additional $500,000 when it meets the investment and jobs threshold for the second and third phases as well as a 55% business property tax rebate and an up to 50% tax rebate for real property new investments.
Bridor has 90 days to close on the property and could also be applying for state incentives, Shepard said.
Established in Montreal in 1984, Bridor produces bread and other baked goods for clients that include hotels, cafes, grocery stores and restaurants. The company’s only U.S. plant is currently located in New Jersey, according to its website.
It isn’t the only business considering a nine-figure investment in Lancaster at the moment. NTT Global Data Centers Americas Inc. could develop a 225,000-square-foot data center, an investment of about $250 million that could generate at least 27 jobs with an average salary of $80,000.