Around a dozen builders interested in Yuma aviation center
June 20--About 12 construction companies from all over the western United States are developing plans to build the new 40,000-square-feet Aviation Industrial Center at Yuma International Airport.
"It is a large-scale project and there is quite a bit of interest in it, especially with the economy we are in," said Christopher Thompson, an architect for Patterson Thompson, the Yuma-based company that designed the center. "Projects of this scale are more rare than they used to be."
The companies are competing against each other to win a contract to build the facility worth about $4 million. The Yuma County Airport Authority will open all of the bids on July 10, compare them and choose the winning company.
Construction is expected to begin by the end of July. The goal is to have the facility completed within about six months of the ground breaking.
"Once the bidding happens and the contractor is selected, construction will start almost immediately and we hope to have it built by just after the first of the year," Thompson said.
The airport authority plans to build the new facility at 40th Street between the recently completed Customs and Border Protection's Aviation and Maintenance Operations Center and the FedEX facility.
The center will combine offices and two hangars that can be used by defense contractors for short- and long-term projects.
"It is two hangars separated by office space so they can have an office component as well as a mechanical component out in the hangar," Thompson said. "The facility is about 40,000 square feet and has the potential to be divided up and shared by two tenants simultaneously."
The location will offer defense contractors a secure site in close proximity to Marine Air Corps Station Yuma, Thompson added.
"There is a shortage of space for those civil defense contractors that have military contracts that want to do work near the base but can't do work on the base. The airport provides a perfect location for them to do that. It is very attractive with defense contractors."
The facility is being paid for by a $3.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, with additional funding provided by the airport authority.
The substantial project will bolster the Yuma economy, Thompson said, noting that the engineering and architectural plans for the facility were provided by Yuma-area companies.
"It will bring construction jobs, and then afterwards provide a vehicle for more commerce -- more jobs here. These defense contractors ... bring a lot of people with them, and so the airport is very optimistic that with the new facility, a new industry may come to town."
Chris McDaniel can be reached at [email protected] or 539-6849.
Copyright 2012 - The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.
