Airport Cargo Building, Transloading Draw Interest
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Less than a month after closing on the former Davis air cargo building, officials at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport report “strong interest” from parties interested in leasing space in the building.
Dan Dickten, aviation director at the airport, told members of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which operates the airport, that Aviation Facilities Co. has an offer “on the table” to lease half the building, which the port authority took possession of Dec. 28, for an air cargo operation. Based at Dulles International Airport, the company, also known as AFCO, is an aviation/logistics/air cargo firm.
“We have been talking about this building with AFCO for quite some time,” Dickten said. “I would hope within the next week or so to at least get a thumbs up or thumbs down on this thing, or whether or not we need to negotiate a little bit more on the cost.”
Interest in the building isn’t limited to AFCO, nor is AFCO the only air cargo operator interested in the building, Dickten said. Niles Expanded Metals, Niles, has expressed interest in leasing about 25% of the building for a Department of Defense contract it has and another firm involved in the oil and gas industry has expressed interest in space there.
Meanwhile, Total Airport Services Inc., Detroit, another air cargo operator, has also expressed interest, Dickten said.
The heavy interest in the building is “one of the reasons why we pursued purchasing it,” said Scott Lynn, port authority chairman. “We’re taking an aggressive approach to make sure that everybody knows it’s available for leasing space.” The port authoirty purchased the building back from Millwood Corp., which had acquired it from the port authority in 2009, for $1.075 million.
Following Wednesday’s meeting of the port authority’s board, Dickten released a rail and transloading feasibility analysis. The study, funded by the port authority’s aviation and economic development divisions and the Trumbull County engineer’s office, indicates that addition of rail service and transloading services at the airport “would create a new economic development asset that may assist with not only the attraction of new jobs, but also with the retention and expansion of jobs at existing businesses” in Trumbull County and the surrounding area. It may also have “a positive impact” on aviation-related activity at the airport.
The study “determined that quite possibly two or three of these transload sites could be supported in the county when things really start happening here,” Dickten said. The rail spur would come over from the Norfolk Southern line east to the airport, he said.
The report projects the economic impact on Trumbull County would be 296 jobs, including 188 direct, total labor income of $13.14 million and output of $37.98 million. For the study region, the impact would be 320 jobs, $14.21 million in labor income and $41.31 million in output.
A “hypothetical development scenario” provided to estimate economic impact assumes a $10 million total development cost would result in an estimated 105 direct, full-time jobs and 83 construction jobs.
The study “really looked at the industries of the Mahoning Valley, including the new oil and gas industry,” said Rose Ann DeLeon, executive director of the port authority.
“It also acknowledged that there are other transload potential sites throughout the Valley but with the ramp-up of the oil and gas industry, at some point there is room for additional ones,” she said.
Representatives of Silverlode Consulting Corp., Cleveland, had been expected to make a presentation on the study at Wednesday’s meeting, according to the port authority’s agenda, but did not attend due to confusion over the date. They are expected to attend the February meeting.
Dickten told the port authority members that the airport had 77,327 total passengers in 2012, 10% more than in 2011 and higher than the 75,000 that had been targeted for the year. Based on the schedules the airport has received so far from Allegiant Air and flights expected to be added this year, he predicted the airport could have nearly 90,000 passengers in 2013.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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