San Antonio-based Mission Solar Energy has returned ownership of its land to the Brooks Development Authority in an agreement that will allow it to rent back the property for its plant while saving up to $1.6 million in annual property taxes.
The site houses the headquarters and manufacturing facility for solar manufacturer Mission Solar and the headquarters of its parent company, OCI Solar Power.
Mission Solar took ownership of the land in Sept. 2016, according to the Bexar County Appraisal District. The property has been appraised at $56 million.
OCI Solar spokeswoman Leslie Garza said Mission Solar reinstated its original lease on Dec. 8.
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“As part of the reinstatement of lease agreement, Mission Solar Energy will resume annual rental payments and make a good faith effort to employ a total of 200 full-time employees by January 1, 2023,” she said in an email.
The company currently has 150 employees and plans to hire 50 more, Garza said.
Until Sept. 2016 Brooks owned the property under a 10-year property tax abatement that was signed with Nexolon America, a subsidiary of South Korean-base Nexolon Co. Ltd., in 2013. The agreement expires in 2023.
South Korean-based OCI Co. Ltd. bought Nexolon America in 2013 and turned it into Mission Solar.
Brooks President and CEO Leo Gomez said that Mission Solar had the right to assume ownership of the land at any time during the 10-year agreement and that Brooks re-assuming ownership of the property will “help Mission Solar to recover and get them to a point where they’re succeeding.”
Gomez said the property tax abatement agreement with Mission Solar will still expire in 2023.
Mission Solar laid off 257 employees between November 2016 and March 2017 as it struggled to compete with foreign solar producers. The company has said it is focusing its efforts on residential and commercial rooftop solar after fulfilling utility-scale contracts for multiple solar projects built to provide power to San Antonio’s city-owned utility CPS Energy.
The solar manufacturer was forced to repay all of its tax savings to San Antonio after failing to meet employment requirements set under the agreement. Mission Solar will pay back $601,000 over two years.
The solar industry across the U.S. and the world has taken a hit, Gomez said, adding that its “fortunate” that Mission Solar survived the downturn.
Rye Druzin is a San Antonio Express-News energy reporter. Read more of his stories here. | rdruzin@express-news.net | @druz_journo
