A new nearly one million-square-foot industrial space is in the works next to a Brevard County spaceport.
Key Group Holdings LLC plans to develop a 50-acre first phase of Space Coast Innovation Park in Titusville.
It’s the start of a project that will include the development of 917,099 square feet of industrial space spread across nine buildings next to Space Coast Regional Airport and Space Coast Air & Spaceport.
It’s an important project, as the facilities may be able to attract business relocating to or expanding in the region. In fact, executives and experts previously said more industrial real estate is one of the biggest needs for aerospace companies on the Space Coast.
New sites for ‘continued success’
The land is owned by the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority, which oversees three Brevard County airports, including Space Coast Regional Airport. The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority earlier this year entered a long-term lease with Space Coast Innovation Park LLC for the land, Director of Airports Kevin Daugherty told Orlando Inno.
Space Coast Innovation Park LLC is related to Boca Raton-based commercial real estate developer Key Group. More details on the development timeline weren’t available, and Key Group executives could not be reached for comment.
According to public records, the first phase of Space Coast Innovation Park will feature five buildings, each ranging in size from 100,500 to 108,000 square feet, southeast of the intersection of Grissom Parkway and Perimeter Road.
The second phase will consist of four more industrial buildings ranging from 92,500 to 106,200 square feet just south of Phase 1.
Engineering firm Michael Baker International Inc. also is involved with the project. The Pittsburgh-based company submitted a pre-application July 27 for the first phase of Space Coast Innovation Park to the state.
If developed, Space Coast Innovation Park would add another facilities hub for growing businesses in Brevard County. There’s also the 299-acre Exploration Park near Kennedy Space Center, which came about from a partnership between NASA and Space Florida. Aerospace, technology and scientific companies can lease existing or built-to-suit facilities in Exploration Park.
The shuttering of NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 2011 was a blow to Brevard County’s economy, but it since has rebounded thanks to growth in commercial space launches and advanced manufacturing. That means the county needs more facilities, Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast President/CEO Lynda Weatherman told Orlando Inno.
“As companies continue to successfully expand and create further high-wage jobs for our region, a growing footprint of site options provides additional avenues for their continued success. We welcome these new development plans at Space Coast Innovation Park.”
Brevard’s aerospace infrastructure
Meanwhile, Space Coast Innovation Park would be the newest addition to the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority property.
The Space Coast Air & Spaceport, operated by the airport authority, in 2020 became the latest licensed spaceport in Florida. The spaceport recorded its first launch last summer, when Space Perspective Inc. held a test mission for its luxury space balloon.
Aerospace is a key part of the Space Coast's economy. It is home to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the headquarters of L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX), a Blue Origin rocket assembly plant, a OneWeb Satellites manufacturing facility and the launch operations of private firms like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.
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