Subject:
Title
Resolution and Amendment to Declaration of Restrictions on Property in County-owned Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville
End
Fiscal Impact:
Estimated $96,574 in new annual tax revenue for Brevard County; see Summary Explanation and Background and attached EDC Letter of Support and Economic Impact Analysis for further fiscal impact and job creation analysis.
Dept/Office:
Planning and Development / County Attorney’s Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
North American Properties requests that the Board of County Commissioners approve and adopt a resolution allowing for the amendment of the recorded Declaration of Restrictions for property owned by a related entity, NAP Commerce A LLC, in the County-owned Spaceport Commerce Park, to remove a requirement that a future tenant at the property create 50 jobs; authorize the Chair to sign the Amended Declaration of Restrictions; and authorize the Chair or County Manager to execute other documents in connection therewith as approved by the County Attorney.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
North American Properties (NAP) is an Ohio-based real estate development firm that maintains real estate holdings throughout the nation. In 2023, the company exercised an option contract approved by the Board in 2021 to purchase an approximately 11-acre lot in the County-owned Spaceport Commerce Park with the intent of building upon the land a structure to attract a tenant in the aerospace or advanced manufacturing sector. This was considered a “speculative building” project, because NAP planned to carry out certain activities at the site (site preparation and building construction) without a tenant secured for the space. To date, the company has spent approximately $3.4 million on site-related activities, including the construction of storm water detention areas and a 50,000 sq. ft. building pad.
Since the company wanted to begin site preparation activities immediately in 2023, the typical clawback on commerce park land sales - that a purchaser be required to start site work within two years of buying land from the county - didn’t fit this project. Instead, the district board of directors for the North Brevard Economic Development Zone or NBEDZ recommended that a job creation requirement be added to the deed, committing the end user of the site (a future building tenant) to the creation of at least 50 jobs at the site, paying an average wage of $50,000 per job.
Now that NAP has finished its site preparation activities, it is trying to secure a lender to finance the construction of the building at the site. However, NAP cannot find a lender willing to issue a construction financing term sheet for its speculative building project because of the future job creation requirement.
To address this situation, NAP has requested that the County release the requirement for future job creation. The company believes that the large amount of capital it has already invested in improving the 11-acre site demonstrates its commitment to build a facility capable of attracting a high caliber tenant.
The Economic Development Commission (EDC) has submitted a letter in support of NAP’s speculative building project, citing a critical shortage of development-ready industrial sites. According to the EDC, “Without development-ready sites or speculative industrial buildings, prospective firms face costly delays or may choose to relocate to other regions where buildings, infrastructure, zoning, and utilities are already in place. This not only slows job creation but also threatens Brevard County’s competitiveness at a pivotal moment for the aerospace and advanced manufacturing sectors. …NAP’s Commerce Park project, featuring a planned 100,000-square-feet industrial building on approximately 11.4 acres in Titusville within the federally licensed Exploration Spaceport demonstrates the type of investment urgently needed.”
The EDC goes on to say that the type of industrial facilities NAP is developing typically create between 1 to 5 jobs per 1,000 sq. ft. of space. The EDC further projects that the construction improvements associated with the project could generate new annual tax revenue of approximately $96,573 for Brevard County and $56,733 for the City of Titusville, not including taxes tied to the personal property of a future tenant.
Attachments:
(1) Recorded Declaration of Restrictions
(2) Economic Development Commission Letter of Support for Continued Site-Readiness and Spec Building Development Efforts
(A) McNatt, Lisa. “Brevard County’s Aerospace Boom Meets Industrial Bottleneck.” CoStar Insight, CoStar Group, 24 Sept. 2025
(B) Co-Star Graph, Non-Owner Occupied Construction Deliveries 2014-2025
(C) RFPs as of December 2025
(D) Economic Development Commission Economic Impact Analysis
(3) Resolution
(4) Amended Declaration of Restrictions
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Upon approval by the Board, please obtain execution of the Resolution and the Amended Declaration of Restrictions by the Chair and provide an original of the Amended Declaration of Restrictions to the County Attorney’s Office for recording. Please provide copies of the Clerk’s Memorandum and Resolution to the County Attorney’s Office and County Manager’s Office.