BY DANIEL SCHMIDT | THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — European manufacturer Vulcaflex S.p.A. cleared its final major municipal hurdle to build a full-scale automotive supply plant in West Auburn that could eventually grow to more than 500,000 square feet and employ up to 130 people.
Vulcaflex, a family-owned company founded in 1965 in Cotignola, Italy, produces advanced surface materials used in automobile interiors.
The project, identified in city records by the name “Project V,” received approval from the Auburn City Council during its Aug. 18 meeting for an industrial use.
The Auburn Planning Commission originally voted 9-0 to recommend approval of a conditional use permit for manufacturing at the site on Aug. 13.
City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch said Vulcaflex’s arrival is part of a citywide plan to ensure the city secures cleaner, more attractive manufacturing facilities.
“This was a concerted effort between the City Council, the Industrial Development Board and the Planning Commission many years ago to make sure that each body had adequate review of every industrial use,” Crouch said. “There have been uses in my tenure and before my tenure [as city manager] because they were not deemed appropriate. Most people don’t want a chicken rendering plant, a battery acid plant or some other things [like that].”
According to documents provided during Tuesday’s meeting, the facility will sit on a nearly 27-acre plot of land located at 3111 Haygood Court in the West Tech Park Annex.
Vulcaflex is proposing what planning staff described as a full-scale manufacturing operation supporting the automotive industry.
Specifically, the manufacturer will produce synthetic leather materials for the automotive industry in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The first phase, which is expected to carry a total investment cost of $70 million, would total roughly 304,000 square feet.
The facility would be anchored by a 285,434-square-foot production warehouse, a 12,227-square-foot office building and a 6,338-square-foot solvent storage building.
The plan also sets aside plenty of room for growth moving forward.
Future expansions — listed on the concept plan at 177,272, 44,562 and 16,800 square feet, respectively — would add about 238,600 square feet, bringing the projected total buildout to roughly 542,600 square feet.
The facility is expected to employ up to 130 people across three shifts according to the staff report.
The permit application was filed by the Industrial Development Board of the city of Auburn — the public entity that typically recruits new industry — and the site design was submitted by Auburn-based Foresite Group.
In other business, the council:
Approved a $611,559 contract with JLD Enterprises for the Town Creek Park Trail Extension.
Announced two vacancies on the Industrial Development Board for terms beginning Oct. 10 and ending Oct. 9, 2032. The council will fill those vacancies at its Sept. 15 meeting.
Announced one vacancy on the Lee County Youth Development Center board for a term beginning Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2030. The council will fill that vacancy at its Sept. 15 meeting.
Approved a special retail alcohol license (30 days or less) for Friendship Foods, which is doing business as Country’s Barbecue at the 350 Duncan Drive Green Space.
Approved a special events retail alcohol license for Greenawalt Hospitality, which is doing business as B and B Beta Theta Pi at 930 Lem Morrison Drive.
Approved a special events retail alcohol license for Downtown Entertainment, which is doing business as ΣΝ UF Game Day at 715 W. Magnolia Ave.
Approved a text amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance regarding travel center and truck stop uses.
Voted to amend the 14.2-acre Farmville mixed-use planned development district, which is located at the northwest corner of E. Farmville Road and U.S. Highway 280, by eliminating the multiple-family component to accommodate an increase in the commercial floor area from 12,000 square feet to 24,000 square feet.
Approved a performance residential use (multi-unit development) for eight four-bedroom townhouses and a commercial office building for 152 Bragg Ave., which is located at 152–160 Bragg Ave.
Postponed a vote on a commercial and entertainment use (event center) for Celebration Event Center, which is located at 1000 Main St., Suite B, until the council’s Sept. 1 meeting.
Approved a performance residential use (multi-unit development) for 65 units for Chateau Apartments, which is located at 560 N. Gay St.
Approved a performance residential use (multi-unit development) for 126 units for LeMans Apartments, which is located at 560 Perry St.
Approved various non-residential conditional uses for the Farmville mixed-use project, which is located at the northwest corner of E. Farmville Road and U.S. Highway 280.
Approved a commercial and entertainment use (package store) for The Shoppes at Woodward Oaks, which is located at 1785 James Burt Parkway.
Approved a lounge retail alcohol beverage license for KCP 2026, which is doing business as The Spirit Vault at 1785 James Burt Parkway, Suite 104.
Approved a lounge retail alcohol beverage license for KCP 2026, which is doing business as The Spirit Vault at 1785 James Burt Parkway, Suite 104.
