SAN ANTONIO — The City of San Antonio will be giving DeLorean incentives to create jobs for its new headquarters in San Antonio.
DeLorean says it will be creating 450 engineering jobs over the next few years as the brand--under different ownership than the company that went under in the 1980’s--creates its new electric coupe and also an SUV that will be unveiled this summer.
Although other cities offered more money, San Antonio was “the pearl that no one knew existed,” said CEO Joost de Vries.
“San Antonio offered a 360-degree view that was appealing to us from a long-term perspective, the connections with academia, school programs...it made it very appealing,” de Vries said.
City council unanimously agreed to the economic development incentive package, which will provide $562,500 to DeLorean over time as it meets the job requirements.
Those payments will be given at the 150, 300 and 450 job creation milestones.
It’s the first time the city has built a performance-based agreement like this, according to city councilmember Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia.
“We wanted to make sure residents felt comfortable in our decision, and we put together this performance package which, again, it’s based on what they do…we’re not losing any money up front,” Dr. Rocha Garcia said.
All 450 of the jobs promised will be based at DeLorean’s headquarters in Port San Antonio. DeLorean is still in between different office buildings before its headquarters will be completed.
About 80 percent of the jobs created will be in engineering according to de Vries. According to a city council presentation, the average wage of those jobs will pay $145,000 a year.
In addition to the full-time jobs, the agreement says engineering student co-ops will be provided starting in 2025.
“Think of the DeLorean and brand equity involved, there’s excitement not only in city hall but at our universities. Our high school students are following this so it’s a great day in San Antonio,” Dr. Rocha Garcia said.
Although there has been heavy advertising, including a Super Bowl commercial and a small teaser of the car dropped online, the car itself won’t be revealed until this summer’s Concours d’Elegance car show at Pebble Beach in August.
DeLorean hopes to officially break ground on its new headquarters later this year.