Taps Opportunity Zones to Attract Investors and Tenants to Support National Security Infrastructure
MOBILE, AL — Mobile Naval Yard (MNY) is advancing a comprehensive plan for its 355-acre waterfront industrial campus in downtown Mobile, one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions and an emerging maritime industrial hub. MNY aims to establish the deepwater port site as the first in a national network of next-generation centers for American shipbuilding, maritime manufacturing, vessel sustainment, and defense industrial-base growth. Supporting the national effort to rebuild U.S. maritime capacity—particularly the submarine industrial base—MNY is developing an integrated industrial park and innovation campus, The Keel Collective, where leading shipbuilders, advanced manufacturers, technology providers, and maritime suppliers can operate together. Interested parties may lease waterfront or inland property and facilities or contract for advanced services, including prototyping, testing, and demonstrations of national security products, to accelerate America’s maritime resurgence and help new entrants join the Maritime Industrial Base.
At the heart of this strategy is an innovative Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) model that offers maritime companies capital-efficient access to shared infrastructure, specialized facilities, and industrial support—without requiring each participant to build a full suite of supporting assets.
The Keel Collective will connect maritime manufacturers, technology innovators, workforce partners, and industrial service providers to create value for key stakeholders:
- For industry: cost reduction for innovation by providing shared access to specialized equipment and testing infrastructure normally impractical for a single company to build independently.
- For government and defense partners: a secure setting for dual-use development, allowing classified programs to operate side by side with unclassified commercial manufacturing with appropriate separation and security controls.
- For the regional economy: Mobile seen as a destination for maritime investment, industry expertise, and supply-chain activity, strengthening the Gulf Coast’s role in the nation’s shipbuilding and defense manufacturing strategy.
Planned facilities include a conference and events center, a nondestructive testing facility, an advanced manufacturing complex, a collaborative innovation center, and a Secure Data & Program Facility (SCIF-ready), among other capabilities.
Target users and partners include:
- Shipbuilders and marine equipment manufacturers seeking shared prototyping, testing, and certification resources.
- Autonomous-systems companies developing unmanned surface and subsurface vehicles, sensors, and mission systems.
- Clean-maritime technology developers focused on alternative propulsion, emissions reduction, and sustainable vessel design.
- The U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and other government agencies needing a trusted regional site for demonstrations, evaluation, and secure collaboration.
- Universities and technical colleges conducting applied maritime research and preparing the next-generation workforce.
- Economic development organizations and investors seeking a flagship site to anchor regional growth in the maritime and defense sectors.
The Keel Collective tenants and their financial sponsors may qualify for the now-permanent federal Opportunity Zone program—and its significant tax benefits—after satisfying national security standards for non-adversarial operators and investors. MNY is incorporating the Opportunity Zone 2.0 program into its capital strategy to attract patient, long-term, non-adversarial private investment in maritime infrastructure, industrial modernization, and workforce development, subject to applicable eligibility and designation requirements. MNY welcomes engagement from shipbuilders, maritime operators, technology companies, infrastructure providers, and strategic investors seeking to expand U.S. maritime industrial capacity and strengthen national security.
Contact: To learn more about joining The Keel Collective, contact Ellen Chang, Managing Director, Mobile Naval Yard LLC, at [email protected].