Alcon Laboratories has filed plans for a possible $100 million, 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant at its campus in south Fort Worth.
The eye care company would build the plant next to existing buildings.
In May, the Fort Worth City Council approved a plan to nominate Alcon for the Texas Enterprise Zone Program.
According to the documents prepared for the City Council at that time, Alcon said it plans to make a capital investment of about $153 million in its manufacturing operations between the beginning of this year and June 2028. If it is accepted as an enterprise zone, Alcon could receive a maximum of $1.25 million over a five-year period.
If Alcon were to receive the designation, the company would commit to making 35% of its hires economically disadvantaged persons, enterprise zone residents or veterans for new certified jobs at its Fort Worth facility.
Alcon officials did not respond to a request for a comment on the expansion plans.
The Texas Enterprise Zone Program is an economic development tool assisting local communities in partnering with the state of Texas to promote job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas.
The plans filed with the city call for Alcon Laboratories officials to meet with the development officials later this month to review any issues with the site or the zoning.
The plans show the new construction would be on a 135-acre site just east of Alcon’s current campus, north of East Altamesa Boulevard and west of Campus Drive. The documents list Jacobs Engineering as the company providing professional and construction services for the project.
The site plans filed do not say how many employees might be added because of the expansion, but they do show 640 parking spaces associated with the new construction.
Alcon was foundedin Fort Worth by Robert Alexander and William Conner, who had opened a pharmacy business in Fort Worth in 1945 and combined their last names for the business name.
In 1947, they incorporated Alcon Laboratories with a focus on eye care products. The Swiss food company Nestlé bought Alcon in 1978. Alcon merged with the Switzerland-based global healthcare company Novartis in 2011.
Spun off in 2019 as an independent company headquartered in Geneva, many of its operations remain in Fort Worth. The company sells to consumers and physicians. The companysaidin August it expects to have sales of between $9.3 billion and $9.5 billion this year, which would be an increase of at least 9% year-over-year.
Alcon is listedas the No. 2 industrial taxpayer in Tarrant County after General Motors, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.
Company at a glance
- Founded in Fort Worth in 1945
- Fort Worth campus located at 6201 South Freeway
- Corporate headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland