Photo courtesy of JCB

Area officials and JCB executives turn ceremonial shovels of dirt at the June 2024 groundbreaking for the San Antonio project, although construction won’t start until February 2025.

Global construction machinery manufacturer JCB will begin $184 million in construction that it has codenamed "Project Sky" at the site of its new 720,000 sq. ft. factory in San Antonio on Feb. 1, 2025, mysanantonio.com reported.

The project's groundbreaking at 13210 Palo Alto Road occurred in June 2024.

The initial project is just the start of a much larger project expected to reach about $500 million.

Photo courtesy of JCB

The city of San Antonio provided $14 million in tax breaks, while Bexar County added $12 million in subsidies. Officials have said that JCB will generate more than $30 billion for the area over the next decade and create 1,500 jobs.

The first phase of construction on the 400-acre site is slated to be finished by Oct. 1, 2026, according to the Great Britain-based company's Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing.

JCB manufactures more than 300 types of construction and agricultural equipment, including backhoes, excavators, tractors, skid-steer loaders and forklifts.

"We're not just going to be American-made, we're going to be Texas-made," said Alice Bamford the granddaughter of the company's founder, at the June groundbreaking, according to sanantonioreport.com. "For the next 80 years, we're writing the next chapters from here in America, where we sell a quarter of our machines from around the world … and it's going to be a lot more."

The San Antonio facility will build lift and access equipment, such as mobile elevating work platforms and telescopic handles. Other lines of equipment could be built there eventually, JCB CEO and President Richard Fox-Marrs said in June, calling the plant "single biggest investment the company has ever made."

JCB employs 19,000 people globally and has 22 factories around the world, including 11 in the UK, seven in India, and others in Brazil and China. The company will mark its 80th anniversary in 2025. The San Antonio facility will be the company's second largest, behind only its headquarters in Rocester, Stafforshire, England.

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