Monday, August 08, 2011

Commissioners approve deal to build hangars at Odessa-Schlemeyer Field Airport (KODO), Odessa, Texas.

A slew of new hangars will soon be built at Odessa-Schlemeyer Field Airport after the Ector County Commissioners Court approved the lease of land on the property to a development company.

The company, MSF Development, is leasing the property for 8.5 cents per square foot, per year, in a 40-year lease agreement as part of a plan to create an Odessa Hangar Owners Association.

At the completion of construction in 2012, it will then turn the management of the property over to the OHOA.

Commissioner Dale Childers said one of the main issues at the Airport Board meetings he attends is creating such an association.

Because the county only has one “ganghangar,” or a hangar that is rented out on a nightly basis, and few privately-owned hangars on the property, he said it is important to create this development and it will end up making money for the county.

“There’s a huge need at Schlemeyer Field for more hangars,” Childers said. “I don’t think the county should build hangars. I don’t think we should be in that business.”

But with this model, having MSF Development build the hangars while the county leases the property to OHOA, is a model where the county wins, he said. And at the expiration of the 40-year lease, the county takes possession of the hangars built on the land.

Childers also said the county will receive revenue not only from the lease on the property, but from fuel flow taxes and the property taxes.

Currently, MSF has five to six hangars scheduled to be built with the project, but a map of future development shows the possibility for many more if airplane owners are interested, including hangars larger than the 60’-by-60’, 80’-by-80’ and 100’-by-80’ hangars that are mapped out.

Childers said he believes those who have hangars built on the property will recommend the hangars to others and it will become a chain effect that will make more people interested in the opportunity.

New hangars at the airport may also be good for business, he said, and he hopes some local businesses with large jets will ultimately take advantage of the space.

John Landgraf, the airport manager, said the airport has five firm letters of commitment to hangars, but believes there could be as many as eight by the time construction starts. In that case, he said the additional hangars would be built to the west of the first five, which are near the soon-to-be constructed terminal.

Landgraf said he expects construction on the terminal to begin in 30 to 45 days.

“It allows us to have a lot more large corporate aircraft being housed at the Odessa-Schlemeyer Field and it’s a benefit for the county in that it generates revenue not only from the lease but from the taxable value of the aircraft and the fuel sales,” he said. “And it’s all being done with a private investment.”

Richard French, with MSF Development, said his company has done similar work on several sites around Texas, including in Addison and McKinney.

According to a timeline document created by the OHOA, groundwork is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and steel erection should begin Dec. 1, with the project completion slated for March 1, 2012.

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