Image: Google maps
Tesla leases another huge building near Giga Texas, in Brookshire, presumably for battery storage. Another building, which was rented at the end of 2022, is located in San Antonio and is also believed will be used for battery storage.
Tesla has leased a 1.04 million-square-foot building at Empire West Business Park in Brookshire, just west of Katy, according to The Business Journal. According to Jeremiah Hill, Brookshire City Council member and president of the city's economic development board, the company is in the process of pulling permits for “Building 9” in the 300-acre industrial park between Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 90. On October 11, the city building department issued a certificate to Tesla for the use of office space in the building.
Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield confirmed that the lease was completed in the fourth quarter of 2022, although Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners, which is developing Empire West, declined to confirm details of the lease or that it is with Tesla.
It is currently unknown what the building will be used for. However, Hill suspects it is being used for battery storage. “We don't have official confirmation of that, but that's what we believe it's going to be in that facility,” he said.
Tesla and the city of Brookshire first announced plans for the facility around September, Hill said, and in November or December, Tesla began getting permits to build a dedicated storage facility. Stream designed the small office space to be move-in ready, he said, and Tesla employees have already taken over the space. The warehouse area, on the other hand, was built as a shell space and there is still a lot of work to be done.
“It does appear like a pretty large amount of work is going to be done to that facility to structure for their purposes,” Hill said.
He was thrilled that Tesla had chosen the Brookshire area for its facility. Tesla job listings on LinkedIn are looking for an associate manager and supervisors for production control for both day and night shifts in Brookshire.
“[We] look forward to having them as a good neighbor for us,” he said. “And the jobs that are potentially going to be created for our community and for the surrounding areas as part of that, it's going to be a great thing.”
This is the second location in relative proximity to Giga Texas that Tesla has rented in recent months. At the end of October 2022, it was revealed that the company had leased 439,809 square feet of space in San Antonio, Texas, in the industrial park, Foster Ridge 2. This location is an hour's ride from Giga Texas and two hours from Corpus Christi, where Tesla starts construction of the lithium refinery.
© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter