May 12—Cobb County agreed to a new contract this week with the operator of its local airport in a deal that should result in $25 million worth of improvements to the facility in the coming years.
The agreement scraps an existing lease with Hawthorne Global Aviation Services, which had 17 years remaining on it. The new agreement with Hawthorne as the fixed base operator — which provides fueling, storage, and other services — will run for at least 35 years, with two five-year extensions available.
At least part of the impetus for the new lease, Cobb Transportation Director Drew Raessler writes, is that the airport's existing hangars are completely full. The terms of the new lease require Hawthorne to build an additional 65,000 square feet of hangar space, while renovating the existing terminal.
Construction expenses will be paid for by Hawthorne with work to be completed by the end of 2028. The lease extension, Raessler indicated, will allow the firm the time necessary to raise the revenue to pay off its debt on the new construction. Ownership of the structures will revert to the county when the lease expires.
The county will collect about $26,000 per month in rent from Hawthorne just for use of the new hangars and terminals, with more revenue coming from fuel sales, marketing fees, and taxes, per a copy of the lease.
Hawthorne, for its part, was sold in March to investment firms Wafra and Nova Infrastructure "in a move that will infuse new funding into the brand," Aviation International News reported. Based in Long Island, New York, the company currently is a fixed base operator at five additional airports nationwide.
Meanwhile, the board also extended its contract with First Transit to continue operation of the county's CobbLinc bus service. The current deal dates from 2017, and the county has elected to exercise its one-year renewal option through next June.
The one-year renewal is worth $25 million, per the agenda item. The county is simultaneously advertising a full-term contract which would begin July 1, 2023.
___
(c)2022 Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
Visit Marietta Daily Journal, Ga. at www.mdjonline.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
