Tulsa Airport industrial park plan lacks interest
March 30-- No proposals were submitted Thursday for development of an 136-acre aerospace industrial park at Tulsa International Airport, airport officials said.
"I would say we are disappointed to not get any proposals, but I wouldn't say we were surprised," said Jeff Hough, deputy airports director of engineering and facilities. "We fully expected we would get something, but given the magnitude of what we're doing and the fact there are so many forces at play, it's hard to say" why no proposals were submitted, Hough said.
"We're not going to give up. It will be interesting as we get into the Monday morning quarterbacking about why we didn't get any proposals," Hough said.
The staff of the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust was expected to select a master developer by April 30 from among proposals submitted by Thursday's 4 p.m. deadline. The TAIT board planned to approve the selection at its May 10 meeting, officials said.
Airports Director Jeff Mulder said the 136-acre site, which is south of 36th Street North and east of Mingo Road, is in the east central area of the 4,471-acre airport. It borders North Mingo Road, which is the address of American Airlines' Tulsa Maintenance Base, Spirit AeroSystems Inc. and IC of Oklahoma LLC, a school bus factory owned by Navistar Inc.
For the past several years, airport tenants and aerospace companies have told airport staff members about the need for hangar, office and warehouse space near the airport, Mulder said.
The airport has four commercial airlines that carried 2.79 million passengers in 2011, and it has 70 tenants. Its businesses employ 13,000 people and its industrial and air service complex provide a $3.2 billion economic impact on the region, TAIT officials said. The airport also includes a Foreign Trade Zone, officials said.
The site's proximity to the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, U.S. 169, 36th Street North, the Gilcrease Expressway, the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad "provide added value to companies looking to maximize the efficiency of their distribution systems," TAIT says in its 161-page Request for Proposals.
TAIT officials said they require a master developer to submit a proposal that includes development of at least 45 acres of the site.
"The site proposers are encouraged to submit conceptual plans for a single, large-scale project, or multiple, smaller-scale projects that will fully utilize all portions of the site," TAIT's RFP says.
Residential development will not be considered as part of any master development plan, officials said.
Carl Remus, deputy airports director of finance and administration, said a successful master developer would be required to enter into a master developer agreement and one or more ground lease agreements. The lease agreements would be for a term of 20 or more years but less than 50 years, Remus said.
Alexis Higgins, deputy airports director of marketing, said ground lease payments would begin within 36 months of the signing of the master developer agreement.
"Ultimately, we would like to see development of the entire (136-acre) site within 10 years," Higgins said.
Master developers would have the options of using the resources and working with the City of Tulsa, the Tulsa Industrial Authority, Tulsa Development Authority, the Tulsa Economic Development Commission, the Tulsa Economic Development Corp., the Tulsa Metro Chamber and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, officials said.
Higgins said the process isn't over.
"We will regroup and figure out what we are going to do next," she said.
Proposed aerospace industrial park at Tulsa International Airport
Location: East of Mingo Road, south of 36th Street North
Size: 136 acres
Potential facilities: Aerospace warehouse, industrial or office developments
Minimum initial development: 45 acres.
Proposal submission deadline: 4 p.m. Thursday.
Selection of master developer: By April 30.
Source: Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust
D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451
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