{"id":274918,"date":"2026-05-18T09:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274918\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T09:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:48:17","slug":"city-officials-holon-silent-over-status-of-100-million-northwest-jacksonville-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274918\/","title":{"rendered":"City officials, Holon silent over status of $100 million Northwest Jacksonville facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

After plans for an April groundbreaking came and went for Holon\u2019s Northwest Jacksonville manufacturing facility, officials for the autonomous transportation company and Jacksonville\u2019s city government have shared no details on what could come next.<\/p>\n

Holon, a German-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer, committed to make a $100 million capital investment into the facility planned at Eastport Exchange in North Jacksonville. However, the company missed its target for a planned April groundbreaking without a public announcement and hasn\u2019t filed for any permits to begin construction on the facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In October 2025, Holon and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority announced plans for the manufacturer to build a production facility at the Eastport Exchange industrial park at 10145 Eastport Road, where Holon would build vehicles for JTA\u2019s autonomated Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C, public transportation system and for other customers. In June 2024, the city of Jacksonville approved an incentive package of more than $7.5 million for Holon to expand to Jacksonville.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The interior of a Holon vehicle planned to replace the Ford vans now used for NAVI.<\/p>\n

City of Jacksonville<\/p>\n

The agreement with the city did not require a launch date for construction, meaning Holon did not violate any terms by missing its planned groundbreaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The agreement does include a requirement for Holon to invest $80 million in Jacksonville by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear where Holon stands in meeting that deadline. Neither the company, JTA nor the city of Jacksonville would provide detailed answers to questions about Holon\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

When Holon signed its deal to locate its facility in Jacksonville \u2014 which would be the first autonomous vehicle production plant in Florida \u2014 the company and Jacksonville Transportation Authority said the project would break ground in April 2026.<\/p>\n

April came and went with no groundbreaking ceremony for the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it announced plans for an April groundbreaking, JTA said final facility inspections for the project were planned for the second half of 2027.<\/p>\n

\"Henning<\/p>\n

Henning von Watzdorf, Holon CEO, explained that the JTA put in the advance work to qualify to become the company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan Macdonald<\/p>\n

Responding to an April 1 question asking if the facility\u2019s construction would be delayed, Holon said April 3 it was \u201cfinalizing updates\u201d to its construction timeline and would provide a statement \u201cshortly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After not responding to several follow-up emails, Holon told the Daily Record on May 6 its \u201ccommitment to Jacksonville is clear and unchanged. We remain in close contact with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and other stakeholders to discuss the next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked again to define its project timeline and detail any possible reasons for delay, Holon did not respond. JTA officials also did not respond to similar questions about Holon\u2019s facility.<\/p>\n

Incentives agreement details<\/p>\n

Holon, which is partially owned by a company under Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund, received a 10-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant from the city, valued up to $7.5 million. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement. It can apply to property and tangible personal property.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the city pledged a training grant of up to $200,000, for which the company is eligible once it hires 100 full-time employees. The city would pay Holon $1,000 for each hired employee.<\/p>\n

According to the city\u2019s Office of Economic Development, the project would create a return on investment of $1.32 for every $1 invested.<\/p>\n

Holon has until Dec. 31, 2026, to invest $80 million into its Jacksonville facility, or it could risk losing its city funding. That deadline could be extended by a year, at the discretion of the OED.<\/p>\n

\"Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan speaks in front of a Holon vehicle planned to replace the Ford vans now used for NAVI. German vehicle maker Holon plans to build a $100 million, 500,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in North Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

City of Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Additionally, Florida\u2019s state government approved cash incentives of $8 million, which Holon would be eligible for upon $100 million of capital investment and 145 created contracted jobs. The state also granted Holon a 100% rebate on its state corporate tax liability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city, in a response to questions about Holon’s plans, sent a statement: “We can confirm that HOLON is compliant with their economic development agreement with the City. We refer you to the company for any further questions.”<\/p>\n

The Holon site<\/p>\n

The city was reviewing civil engineering plans in October 2024 for Imeson Park South industrial park before Holon moved its plans to the Eastport Exchange location.<\/p>\n

Eastport Exchange is being developed by Ponte Vedra Beach-based InLight Real Estate Partners.<\/p>\n

David Burch, managing partner of InLight, said in a Nov. 24 email that Holon signed a term sheet for EastPort Exchange in October at the JTA\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

He said Holon plans a long-term lease for the facility. Burch and JTA said the site of the Eastport Exchange facility will be a 585,000-square-foot building on 40 acres.<\/p>\n

Plans for the Imeson Park South location showed a 491,472-square-foot building on 40.88 acres. The city was reviewing civil engineering plans submitted Oct. 9, 2024, for Project Link, which was announced as Holon, in Imeson Park South, which is about 3 miles east of the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, on parcels owned by VanTrust Real Estate.<\/p>\n

Eastport Exchange industrial park is about 4 miles northeast of Imeson Park South.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An illustration of the Holon factory in North Jacksonville. The site along Zoo Parkway is on about 40 acres near the Imeson Park South industrial park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure what their decision making process was up to that point,\u201d Burch said of Holon\u2019s choice to change locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No Holon plans have emerged for the Eastport Exchange site.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confirm that we have not filed for any permits,\u201d Burch said by email April 1, referring further questions to JTA.<\/p>\n

Burch said he was under a nondisclosure agreement.<\/p>\n

He said by email May 12 that he had no further comment,<\/p>\n

Marc Munago, VanTrust Real Estate\u2019s Jacksonville executive vice president, said by email May 12 that the company would consider working with Holon on a building that VanTrust has under construction, but he would rather not comment.<\/p>\n

Munago said that the building under construction is Imeson Park South Building D, which encompasses 547,200 square feet. It is a speculative building and was not built for Holon or any other specific tenant.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority wants to use the Holon Mover that will be made in Jacksonville for its driverless urban transportation system when it comes online in 2026.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan MacdonaldVehicle testing underway<\/p>\n

In March, Holon announced that it was officially listed as a Transit Vehicle Manufacturer in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, a Transit Vehicle Manufacturer is any manufacturer whose primary business purpose is to build vehicles specifically for public mass transportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis recognition marks an important step for us,\u201d Sven Herzig, chief sales officer of Holon, said in a release at the time. \u201cIt confirms that we are on the right regulatory path and creates the foundation for resilient partnerships with U.S. transportation authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the announcement, Holon did not go into detail about future regulatory requirements in the United States.<\/p>\n

The company is testing vehicles on public roads in Hamburg, Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holon touted as sign of U2C success<\/p>\n

City officials have touted the city\u2019s agreement with Holon as part of JTA\u2019s Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C, which would operate autonomous vehicles around Downtown and surrounding areas. Asked what would make the U2C a success, JTA CEO Nat Ford pointed to Holon facility plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the success is here. We\u2019ve landed a tier one automotive grade manufacturer in our community,\u201d Ford said during a Nov. 12 mediaconference touting Holon\u2019s capabilities. \u201cThat\u2019s going to create hundreds of jobs, export thousands of vehicles across the world and the sales tax and revenue that\u2019s generated from that far exceeds what the cost is of the U2C project with our early estimates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes (Holon\u2019s technology) more impactful for me is the fact that it\u2019s job creation, job growth,\u201d Council member Raul Arias said. \u201cAs you\u2019ve seen me on Council many times, (I) advocate for our workforce, and that\u2019s exactly what this will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City officials, Holon executives and others involved in bringing the Holon manufacturing facility to Jacksonville celebrated the announcement. The company is making a $100 million investment in the factory.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan Macdonald<\/p>\n

Holon vehicles would be used in the U2C system. The first phase of the program, which runs vehicles on a 2.5-mile route Downtown, mostly along Bay Street, cost $65 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

JTA currently uses Ford vans powered by Balfour Beatty for its autonomous transit but would make the switch to Holon vehicles once they are approved for road use in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to JTA, a University of North Florida study said the autonomous transit project would bring more than $200 million to the local economy during the construction phase, create more than 800 jobs \u2014 at least 150 of them at Holon \u2014 and generate $87 million in economic output annually starting in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Karen Brune Mathis contributed information to this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After plans for an April groundbreaking came and went for Holon\u2019s Northwest Jacksonville manufacturing facility, officials for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-274918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}