The global specialty minerals company ICL is set to build a more than half-billion dollar manufacturing facility for a key component in lithium batteries in the city’s North Riverfront neighborhood.
St. Louis’ Planned Industrial Expansion Authority voted 3-0 Tuesday afternoon to authorize real property tax abatements at 90% for 10 years and 50% for five years and personal property tax abatements at 90% for 10 years.
The Israeli company had previously announced that it broke ground last year on a $400 million facility in the Carondelet neighborhood in south St. Louis, but the company learned that site would not be ideal for the project, said Phil Brown, president of food and phosphate specialties for ICL, during the board’s meeting.
“From a space perspective and also the geotechnical characteristics of the underlying land as well was not very suitable to a large industrial development there,” he said.
ICL launched a process to consider other areas that could house the new manufacturing facility but eventually chose to remain local, opting to build at 460 E. Carrie Ave., Brown explained.
“St. Louis is a great location for us with the center of gravity we have here with our headquarters and our R&D facilities as well,” he said. “Looking forward to adding a fourth location in north St. Louis to that footprint as well.”
Brown added the company isn’t abandoning its site in Carondelet either as it will still house a pilot plant and innovation center. The company is close to finishing construction of a $30 million investment there, he said.
“You can think about it as a mini version of the industrial, commercial facility that we’re looking to build on Carrie Avenue,” Brown said.
The new facility will produce tens of thousands of metric tons of lithium iron phosphate, a scale of manufacturing that isn’t happening anywhere except China at the moment, Brown said.
“[This is] a great opportunity for the U.S., Missouri and for St. Louis to be at the forefront of all that,” he said. “This will be the first commercial manufacturing plant for this material predominantly outside of China.”
The project is also being partially funded by the Department of Energy under the bipartisan infrastructure law and aims to produce materials from entirely domestic sources, Brown said.
“The target of this facility is to produce a product that is based on 100% sourced materials from the U.S.,” he said.
ICL’s $574 million facility adds to other investments in the area like the $180 million expansion, also in North Riverfront, that Proctor & Gamble committed to in September.
“We are starting to see a renaissance of our advanced manufacturing industries in north St. Louis city that will drive growth across the entire region,” said Neal Richardson, chairman and CEO of the St. Louis Development Corporation. “It’s a testament that the strategy and plan is working with the investment that we’re making into workforce development, creating jobs in the city.”
Members of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority board were pleased with the quality of ICL’s investment in St. Louis.
“It’s checked so many boxes, not only for investing in our city, which is important, but improving our country’s competitive position and value chain,” said board member Lori Koenig.
ICL’s new facility will add 153 high-paying, full-time jobs, including about 100 manufacturing jobs paying more than $40 an hour as well as supporting positions including HR professionals, accountants and R&D scientists, Brown said. ICL already employs roughly 335 people in St. Louis at an average salary of $113,000 a year, he added.
The project will also generate more than 1,000 construction jobs, Brown said.
Tuesday’s announced development from ICL and P&G’s from a few months ago were both the result of global searches in which St. Louis rose to the top, Richardson said. He added this reflects St. Louis’ historic advantages with connections to rail, interstates and river transit, as well as recent investments the city has made into workforce development, environmental remediation and developing the advanced manufacturing sector locally.
“It was really important to see that as businesses have a choice of where they want to be located that they see value in St. Louis,” Richardson said. “We are a logistic gem in a lot of ways, and so being able to now leverage those logistical advantages to be able to win sites and employers like ICL is just the beginning of what's to come.”
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the proposal sought an issue of taxable industrial revenue bonds. The story has been updated to reflect that it sought real and personal property tax abatements.
