A confidential manufacturer known around Pueblo as Project Falcon has slammed the brakes on plans for a major plant in the St. Charles Industrial Park, according to city and county officials. The pause freezes months of behind-the-scenes bargaining over incentives and a sizeable land option that had stirred both big hopes for jobs and fierce resistance from residents and some elected leaders. For now, the deal, along with the promise of hundreds of new positions, is in limbo while the community argues over what it really wants.
According to The Pueblo Chieftain, the company told local negotiators it was stepping back "because of general divisiveness" surrounding the proposal and would pause talks until tensions cool. The Chieftain reported that the firm had been eyeing St. Charles Industrial Park as a flagship U.S. manufacturing site while keeping its identity under wraps during incentive talks. The timeout followed a run of closed-door briefings and public meetings that, by local accounts, turned sharply polarized.
Incentives And Jobs On The Table
State economic filings list the prospect before the Colorado Economic Development Commission as "Falcon" and outline a proposed Strategic Fund award of roughly $1,865,500 over five years. According to OEDIT, the pitch projected about 287 net new jobs at an average annual wage of $81,056, or about 150% of the average in Pueblo County. The proposal also flagged a possible pairing of Strategic Fund money with Rural Jump-Start tax benefits, figures that became central talking points for city officials and other backers pushing the project's economic promise.
City Leadership And The Land Option
Mayor Heather Graham and city staff were on the front line of the negotiations. The city agreed to an option that set aside roughly 300 acres for Project Falcon and moved to reserve the land while talks continued. On the city's "Mayor's Mixtape" podcast, Graham discussed the land option and said the company's full incentive request, including land, infrastructure, and other subsidies, could exceed $65 million. That number quickly became a lightning rod for skeptics on the city council and in the community. Graham also cautioned that any final agreement would require coordination across multiple governments and redevelopment entities before it could come together.
County Review And Site Prep
Pueblo County meeting records show commissioners identified a potential memorandum of understanding tied to Project Falcon and approved executive-session talks to hash out negotiation strategy, a sign of the legal and fiscal issues that would come with the deal. Pueblo County agenda documents indicate Project Falcon has been a recurring topic in closed-door planning. Local summaries and staff notes also show the city moved earlier this year to start design work at St. Charles Industrial Park, including an initial planning appropriation of roughly $8 million to make the site ready for large industrial tenants, as reported by Citizen Portal.
With the company stepping back, city and county leaders say they intend to keep the land option and site preparation efforts in place while the community continues to argue over whether, and on what terms, to pursue the project. Officials have not offered any timeline for getting negotiations back on track, and the company has not released a public statement beyond what has appeared in local reporting.
