Council holds required hearing on proposed Owens Corning tax abatement; ordinances scheduled for later vote

A required public hearing opened on a proposed tax abatement for Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt LLC before the Houston City Council. Andrew Busker of the mayor’s office of economic development told the council the company applied for the city incentive on Nov. 25, 2024, after receiving a Texas Enterprise Fund award this summer; state rules require a local incentive in the package. Busker said the project would involve approximately $39,000,000 in investment for building improvements, utility upgrades and new manufacturing equipment, and that the company expects to create 75 full‑time‑equivalent direct jobs by 2028 while retaining about 105 existing positions at the Houston facility. Busker said the company agreed to a minimum starting wage of $25 an hour for the new FTEs.

Under the city’s tax abatement framework described by staff, the proposal would grant up to a 90% property tax abatement for up to 10 years or until the abatement reaches an approximate $1,360,000 cap; staff projected a first‑year abatement of about $158,000 and an average annual abatement near $122,000. Busker said the abatement would be structured with community‑benefit requirements including local hiring, outreach to reentry programs, recruitment from high‑poverty census tracts, and job training. He also described compliance mechanisms: annual reporting by the company to the city and contractual provisions to reduce or cancel abatement if job or wage commitments are not met.

Council members asked staff to share follow‑up documentation on the company’s compliance monitoring and to provide council offices with the state award paperwork and timeline. No action was required at the hearing; Busker said the related ordinance to create the reinvestment zone and the abatement agreement ordinance were scheduled for the council meeting on Dec. 3, 2025.

The public hearing closed by motion and the council moved on to other business. The hearing record and the staff presentation remain the basis for any vote when the ordinances return to the docket.