Bell Textron Inc. plans to begin construction of its planned $632 million helicopter factory in north Fort Worth in April.
The Fort Worth-based aerospace and defense giant will build a 448,000-square-foot building at 15100 N. Beach St., in AllianceTexas, where it will manufacture rotor blades and transmissions for the MV-75, a next-generation attack helicopter. Bell has a contract to deliver the helicopters to the U.S. Army that could be worth $70 billion for the company.
Filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation indicate the company will begin $70 million of work entailing renovation and an addition to an existing building that was previously occupied by Stanley Black and Decker. TDLR filings are often preliminary and subject to change but offer a glimpse at a company’s future plans. Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell is the design firm listed on the project.
“Our team is beginning work on building improvements and expansion for our new manufacturing facility,” the statement read. “This facility represents one of several investments Bell has made in our North Texas area footprint, and the team is excited to get started. We will share more details as the facility progresses.”
Bell originally announced its plans for the $632 million investment in Fort Worth in 2024 that could create more than 500 jobs. The company could receive millions of dollars in incentives from the city, county and state if it follows through with its plans in north Fort Worth.
The deal marked the state’s first approval of incentives under the new Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act program, or JETI, which replaced the controversial Chapter 313 program. JETI provides companies with a 10-year break on the maintenance and operations portion of school district property taxes by limiting the appraised value of a property. Companies must meet job creation and investment criteria in order to qualify.
Bell’s factory in AllianceTexas represents the company’s latest investment to support manufacturing of the MV-75, which is now on an accelerated timeline. Other new buildings include the $20 million-plus Drive Systems Test Lab in Grand Prairie to test technology such as gearboxes, and a Weapons Systems Integration Lab in Arlington near its existing flight research center. The company will assemble the aircraft in Amarillo, and make fuselages in Wichita, Kansas.
More than 1,000 employees work on the engineering and manufacturing development portion of the aircraft, Bell executives said previously. The company employs more than 8,000 people total, with about 4,000 based in Fort Worth. Those numbers could increase due to the Army contract.
Bell is also competing for a contract to train Army pilots using Bell’s helicopters, replacing the UH-72 Lakota with the Bell 505. Competition for the contract includes Denton-based M1 Support Services and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin. Bell advanced to the second phase of the selection in January, according to a company announcement.
