Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s gigafactory had many takers, but Nevada finally won it. However, San Antonio’s economic development authorities say that Alamo City’s bid for the proposed $5 billion plant was better than that of Nevada, and it was without any additional incentives from the state of Texas.
San Antonio proposed a better deal to Tesla
Mario Hernandez, head of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, noted it in a memo to the foundation board. San Antonio’s Express News got its hands on a copy of the memo first. There was no mention of the San Antonio proposal in the memo or an interview with the Express News.
“Suffice it to say that our package was more weighted to early offsetting costs for the company,” he told the newspaper.
Other probable sites for the factory in Texas were Hutto and Dallas. Hernandez told the newspaper that their package did not have any incentive promises and that “it was San Antonio versus Nevada, the entire states.”
Texas still hopeful
Tesla closed in on Nevada after it got $1.3 billion in tax breaks. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that he is still bidding on Tesla Motors’ gigafactory and considers it open until Nevada’s legislature offers the promised incentives. Spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said in a statement that Texas economic development authorities are still hopeful on securing the gigafactory. The legislature of Nevada has still not approved the incentive package demanded by Tesla. Perry did not respond to a request from the Associated Press about the details of Tesla’s incentives.
The state of Nevada is under acute criticism, with some alleging that the state is taking chances with taxpayers’ money. However, such critics were outnumbered, as legislators moved ahead with the extraordinary package of up to $1.3 billion in incentives, which is expected to get the approval of lawmakers.
Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, asked legislators in the two Democrat-controlled houses to grab the extraordinary opportunity to get the gigafactory in the state. It’s expected to create tens of thousands of jobs, thus reviving Nevada from the worst economic crisis in state history.
On Wednesday, Tesla shares were up .94% to $281.10, and year to date, the stock is up by over 84%.
