JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A planned groundbreaking for the new Holon autonomous vehicle manufacturing facility in Northwest Jacksonville came and went, and a month later, there’s still no word when it will happen.
Back in March, the company announced it had officially gained recognition as a transit vehicle manufacturer.
Holon secured a $7.5 million incentive package from the city in 2024, promising to invest $100 million in the city and build a manufacturing plant here.
Those city dollars are contingent on the company investing at least $80 million by the end of 2026.
One of the first big steps forward was supposed to be breaking ground on the massive facility in April, but it never happened.
Now, more than halfway through May, Holon told Action News Jax its commitment to Jacksonville remains unchanged, but added, “As industrialization must be aligned with confirmed customer demand, we are currently proving our technology in real-world operations and will scale manufacturing to match demand”.
Councilmember Rory Diamond (R-District 13) argued Jacksonville was supposed to be the demand, given JTA committed more than $40 million to purchase 100 Holon shuttles to replace its current fleet of NAVI shuttles.
The local manufacturing plant has been one of the main selling points of JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator and autonomous vehicle transit system.
“This is all built on a pile of sand and we need to get out of this as fast as possible,” said Diamond.
We asked JTA whether it is reconsidering its plans for autonomous transportation and if the agency had any idea why the Holon factory hadn’t broken ground.
The agency did not address the first part of our question, and referred us to Holon for questions about the factory.
Holon did not reply when we followed up and specifically requested an updated project timeline.
Diamond said he also has been unable to get an explanation as to the apparent delay in the project.
“They’ve been saying to the city council all along that the whole NAVI system is worth it because it’s coming with a factory and all these jobs and this huge economic impact,” said diamond. ”So, that looks like it’s not honest right now. So, they need to tell us what’s really happening.”
Action News Jax also asked the Mayor’s Office if it knew why the groundbreaking did not happen as anticipated.
A spokesperson simply told us Holon is “compliant with their economic development agreement with the City” and referred us back to the company for additional questions.
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