Massive manufacturing facility still on the way for Henderson

The company has asked Henderson to extend the completion date included in its development agreement with the municipality for the 2.5 million-square-foot manufacturing facility south of the Henderson Executive Airport from April 2024 to the end of 2026, according to documents filed with the city.

Haas Automation makes machine tools used by companies in a variety of industries to handle or manipulate metal and other materials.

“COVID and supply chain issues, increased construction costs” have delayed the project, developer Triliad Development said in a letter to the city asking for the extension.

Peter Zierhut, vice president of outside operations for Haas Automation, said that it took a year to properly grade the site and initial bids on the construction were too high.

The main construction phase of the Haas Automation facility should start in the “late summer” of this year, Zierhut said, and could take a year and half to two years to complete. Completion should happen in 2026, he said.

The company estimated in 2021 that the facility would be completed by late 2022. The estimated cost of developing the manufacturing facility was roughly $327 million then.

Zierhut said he hasn’t seen an updated cost projection for construction but estimates that the price tag will be more than $327 million because of inflation and the rise of construction costs in the past two years.

Triliad Development said in its letter to the city that more than $100 million has already been spent on the facility to do site improvements and install underground utilities.

This facility is expected to provide an economic boost to Henderson as Haas Automation got $10.5 million in tax abatements in 2022 from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. In return for the abatements, the company should create 500 jobs within the first two years of operation, and that number should grow to 1,400 jobs in five years of operation, according to a GOED news release.

This extension request is still in its early stages as it needs to be approved by city staff and the planning commission and City Council.

But Zierhut said he doesn’t expect any big issues to pop up over the extension request since the city and the company have maintained a positive relationship throughout the development process.

He said he expects most of the bumps in the construction process to be sorted out over the next two years and is more worried about finding workers for the facility once it opens.

“The hard work is going to be growing the manufacturing workforce in Southern Nevada,” Zierhut said.

Haas Automation has partnered with the College of Southern Nevada on an advanced manufacturing training program to help boost the manufacturing workforce in the area.

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X.