By Rebekah Morris for AZBEX
Airport-owned land has taken flight as prime real estate for the burgeoning private aviation and aerospace industries. Development deals are happening from Eloy to Scottsdale, Phoenix Mesa-Gateway to Falcon Field to meet the needs of growing industries.
Publicly owned airport land provides a unique opportunity for the public entity to secure a deal to build revenue-generating space and create jobs, while the developer can secure space to operate that allows them to perform activities not suitable for any other property, unless, of course, they are on an airport runway.
Why Arizona? Great Flying Weather
Arizona ranks among the top destinations for all forms of aviation from Commercial and General Aviation to Military, Aerospace and Tourism. Available flying days are available year-round due to abundantly clear skies for most of the year.
According to an economic impact study produced for the Arizona Department of Transportation by Elliott D. Pollack & Company and IMPLAN in 2019, 16.8% of all employment in Arizona is related to aviation. The study goes on to explain that Arizona has the second highest number of flight instructors per capita in the U.S. More than 25 flight schools are located in the state.
According to Dean Howard, director of business development, Alston Construction, “With an increase in demand for pilots nationally, flight schools in Arizona are locating to reliever airports across the state, increasing the demand for airport expansion projects related to that growth.”
Projects Underway & Planned
Using DATABEX project-level data, we can give readers a quick rundown of active private aviation developments in Arizona:
- Ascent Aviation Hangars is under construction with two 94KSF hangars in Marana.
- BlackStar Orbital Technologies is planning a new 45KSF engineering and manufacturing facility at the Sierra Vista Airport.
- Falcon Field currently has two hangars—Hangars G & H—totaling 166KSF, under construction.
- Cunningham Aviation is planning to build a 42KSF hangar at Falcon Field.
- Sky Harbour is developing aircraft storage hangars, a group service equipment building and a fuel farm at Deer Valley Airport.
- Jet Aviation is under construction with Project Cactus at Scottsdale Airport. The 3.26-acre redevelopment project will result in a total of 29KSF in new maintenance hangar space.
- WIN Aviation is planning a new 36KSF hangar at the Coolidge Municipal Airport.
- The Nest Complex project is under construction at Scottsdale Airport. The pair of two-story buildings will bring nearly 64KSF of new office/hangar space to the market.
Master Developments at Phoenix Mesa-Gateway
Beyond individual parcels, Phoenix Mesa-Gateway Airport has struck two long-term partnerships via master development agreements that will provide a plethora of private development on airport owned land for years to come.
The Boyer Company is the master developer on the east side of the airport controlling the GatewayEast Development Master Plan. The development of 273 acres is expected to take shape across three phases. The first project to come from the master plan is the XNERGY manufacturing facility currently under construction.
SkyBridge is the second master developer at Phoenix Mesa-Gateway Airport, developing on the west side of the property. SkyBridge Arizona is the development company, and the overall development area encompasses 363.5 acres. To date, Buildings 106 and 107 are complete; Buildings 108 and 109 are under construction, and projects yet to break ground include Buildings 118b, 116b, an Air Flow Test Facility and a Wingate-Hawthorn Suites Hotel.
More Projects to Come
Even beyond what we can currently see in DATABEX, hangar development on airport land promises to be an active market sector for the foreseeable future.
Lori Collins, director of business & economic development with Phoenix Mesa-Gateway Airport Authority, said they will likely have a 10-acre parcel coming out for a redevelopment RFP in the coming months. It will be reserved for aeronautical uses, as it is adjacent to a taxi lane. She said, “Using the unique public-private partnership, the airport can deliver projects more quickly than if they did not involve a private developer. In addition, the airport is able to maximize long-term revenue using a ground lease model.”
Eloy is experiencing zero vacancy for hangar space at their airport. According to Eloy City Manager David Malewitz, “We’re actively pursuing opportunities and exploring avenues to facilitate the expansion of hangar infrastructure at the Eloy Municipal Airport. In addition, we’re presently engaged in refreshing our airport master plan and will embark on developing an airpark master plan over the next two years to accommodate the anticipated growth in the aviation sector.”
The most recent master plan completed for Scottsdale Airport identified a significant need for more hangar space.
Since the Master Plan was completed, Jet Aviation has completed new hangar space, the City has developed a North General Aviation Box Hangar project, and Ross Aviation SDL Hangar was built.
Falcon Field in Mesa will also see an uptick in development. According to Jessica Alonzo, program assistant with Falcon Field Airport, they have projects in the works that include, “Thirty-seven aircraft hangars/buildings comprising a total of approximately 285KSF and one fixed base operator (FBO) facility consisting of approximately 35KSF.” Neither of those projects have documents publicly available yet, so details are thin as of the date of publication.
Lastly, Kelli Kuester, aviation planning & outreach coordinator for the Scottsdale Airport stated that Atlantic Aviation will be building a hangar for One Sky, but this project is in the pre-application stage and no details were available as of press time.
