Boeing announced Monday it is leasing the space shuttle processing hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for use as the base for its commercial manned spacecraft business.

John Mulholland, program manager of Boeing's commercial crew development project, made the announcement before top Florida politicians at the Orbiter Processing Facility No. 3, where the aircraft maker will manufacture, assemble, refurbish and test the Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100).

The CST-100 is among several proposed designs for a manned spacecraft that will take astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The U.S. currently uses Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to take astronauts to the ISS after its space shuttles have been decommissioned.

Boeing hopes to employ 450 people in Florida by 2015 if NASA approves its CST-100 and the U.S. Congress allots funding for the project.

NASA has turned over the facility to Space Florida, a state-funded aerospace economic development agency, which is leasing it to Boeing.

John Elbon, vice president and general manager of Boeing's space exploration division, said the company decided to lease the facility instead of build a new one because of the available workforce in Florida that it can tap to fulfill its goals, according to Cnet.com..