A Red Deer Regional Airport land development strategy will weigh the benefits of selling or leasing airside property.
The airport was given approval on Tuesday by Red Deer County’s municipal planning commission to subdivide out a nearly three-acre piece of airport-owned land so it could be sold to an existing tenant who plans to build a new hangar.
The plan to sell airport land prompted a letter of concern from another airport tenant who called the impending sale a “significant departure from how most public airports in Canada operate.”
Dale Brown, who owns three hangars and manages a fourth, said most airports lease land to maintain control and provide flexibility to respond to future needs.
To begin selling airport land will have an impact on all other tenants, he warned.
Owners of airport land will have an easier time getting financing compared with lease holders and “the entire market will experience massive corrections compounded by the influx of land speculators and property developers.
“As a small hangar owner on the airside, I will be at the mercy of market forces that I have no control over and can’t predict,” says Brown.
“We should also also anticipate the loss of control that comes with selling property to someone vs. leasing it to them,” he says, adding he supports the current lease structure.
Interim airport CEO Nancy Paish said selling the 2.8-acre site at the south side of the airport will keep land at the north end available for larger potential investors. A key part of the airport’s strategy is to develop its 200 acres of airside property with aviation-related businesses, such as cargo, manufacturing, flight training and aircraft maintenance companies.
“(The subdivision and land sale is) exactly following the plan and maintaining that land for large development as we move forward.”
Paish has spoken with Brown and is aware of his concerns.
“It is very important to us to maintain the relationships we have with our current tenants. This development has brought to light the need to create clear processes within our development strategy.”
The airport also plans to revisit its master plan and area structure plan to ensure clear development guidelines are in place for future and potential tenants.
That work will be part of the land development strategy that will be funded by a $120,000 provincial grant announced earlier this month by Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen.
“A main component of that plan or study is to identify how we sell or lease land and what is the best strategy to do that,” said Paish.
“That study will come back with some really key information for us to be able to speak directly to what are the best opportunities and identify the challenges of selling and leasing land.”
The strategy is expected to be done by September, when it will be shared with the airport authority board and tenants.
Meanwhile, the airport continues to work on key initiatives to support its goal of creating a regional transportation hub.
Construction is well underway on a $3.5-million terminal expansion and taxiway expansion and work is beginning on a new north access road.
Efforts continue to lobby the federal government and Canada Border Services Agency to approve a customs office for the airport, which is seen as critical to achieving its long-term ambitions.
If Red Deer had an authorized port of entry to clear freight as well as passengers (if passenger service returns), there would be no need for aircraft to fly first into Calgary or Edmonton to clear customs.