Contract Approved for Ground Leasing at Airports, Will Feature Hangars
The city of Midland has awarded a contract to Reece Albert, Inc. for a hangar infrastructure project at Midland’s two airports. The project costs just under $8.37 million along with about $4.23 million in project-related expenses for a total of about $12.6 million. Of the three contractors that bid for the project and met all the appropriate criteria, Reece Albert was the cheapest option.
The project will involve leasing ground for new airport hangars that can be bought by private investors, who will then be responsible for constructing the infrastructure and maintaining airport hangars there. Each of these investors will have a long-term lease that they pay back, which goes toward the cost of these improvements. At the end of the lease, ownership of the property and structure will go back to the city. This project is being designed to better serve airplane traffic in the Permian Basin, expand local aircraft storage capacity and attract investments from the private sector.
“This has been a project that's been in the works for many years, and there's (even) a waiting list of folks that are interested in these hangars,” said Mayor Lori Blong. “It's not been something that we were willing to invest in previously, but there's been a whole lot of work for a lot of years in the (airport) subcommittee that's put some work into that.”
The large cost of the project will be paid for by the city’s Airport Fund. Despite the high bill, the city believes that heavily increased revenue at the airport will quickly create a return-on-investment.
“There was a lot of new revenue that's been put in place at the airport with people that visit Midland, and it was something that wasn't being done (previously),” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “There's approximately $8.6 million more per year (in additional revenue). There's been a lot of investment in the airport lately, and that's the reason that we've got dollars from visitors that we're making sure we invest in our properties and develop it correctly.”
“We just need to remember that these projects are 100% covered by the airport fund,” said Midland’s aviation director Justine Ruff. “There's no taxpayer money, and the money will be reimbursed to the airport fund over time by the people that rent this land to build their own hangars, and at the end of their leases, the hangars will also become the property of the airport.”
The land that will be used for the hangars at Midland International Air and Space Port has not been utilized since the area was Midland Army Airfield. Because of this, some of the project expenses are a contingency in case the construction crews find something that needs cleaning up. Gonzalez, however, said that they will have other people pay for particularly notable issues that need cleaning, such as concentration of methane gas, as they have done on past airport infrastructure projects.
Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2027 and be finished by the end of the year.
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