June 02--MANCHESTER -- The city's Committee on Land and Buildings is expected today to hear a request to approve a land swap agreement involving property owned by Manchester Boston Regional Airport, a key part of a proposal to bring a United Parcel Service (UPS) logistics facility to Londonderry.
Today's meeting of the Committee on Land and Buildings gets underway at 4 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers on the third floor of City Hall.
Last month, officials from Pratt & Whitney announced expansion of a third-party relationship with UPS, with plans to construct a 600,000-square-foot Northeast Logistics Center in the Pettengill Road area. Set to open in June 2015, town officials said the center could bring 400 to 600 jobs. Located off Raymond Wieczorek Drive (the airport access road), the Pettengill Road area encompasses nearly 1,000 acres.
In a letter addressed to Committee on Land and Buildings Chairman Patrick Long, Airport Director Mark Brewer asks committee members to approve a land swap agreement.
"As you know, the airport has been a strong supporter of the development of Pettengill Road and the 700-1,000 acres of commercial/industrial land south of the airport," writes Brewer. "This land swap will help facilitate the development of a significant parcel and the partial construction of Pettengill Road."
The portion of airport land involved in the swap agreement is a section of a 57-acre parcel, of which approximately 12 acres is located in Manchester and 45 in Londonderry. The Manchester acres are not part of the proposed land swap.
The parcel was purchased by the airport as part of mitigation for the filling of approximately 13 acres of wetlands to construct Runway 35. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is required to maintain the entire parcel as conservation land, and Brewer said officials plan to place a conservation easement on the property after the land swap is completed.
The UPS logistics facility, once completed, will serve as a centralized distribution center for Pratt & Whitney parts, tools and other supplies, with UPS providing such services as parts receipt, storage, building of manufacturing and assembly kits, inventory management and freight transportation.
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Copyright 2014 - The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
