BAE Systems expects to break ground on $139 million Cedar Rapids facility in October

Background

CEDAR RAPIDS - Raytheon Technologies, the parent company of Collins Aerospace, agreed in January to sell its military GPS business to United Kingdom-based BAE Systems for $1.925 billion after U.S. Department of Justice antitrust regulators ordered Raytheon to divest it. The division has about 700 employees.

In July, BAE Systems brought plans to the Cedar Rapids City Council to build a $139 million classified defense aerospace facility, keeping those employees in Eastern Iowa.

The project is at the corner of 76th Avenue and Sixth Street SW.

What's happened since

Groundbreaking for the project likely will be 'toward the end of October,” a BAE Systems spokesman told The Gazette.

Heavy machinery already is at the site. The expected completion date is September 2022, according to documents submitted to the Cedar Rapids City Council.

BAE Systems also has received financial support from local and state governments.

The Cedar Rapids City Council unanimously approved $14.5 million in property tax incentives for the project, and the Iowa Economic Development Authority approved $7.5 million in state tax credits.

In the meantime, BAE Systems employees are continuing to work at Collins Aerospace facilities until the BAE Systems facility is ready.

Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com