Lambert to ink $40 million cargo development deal
St. Louis airport officials have been working for four years on a plan to develop new cargo facilities on the north side of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Today, they expect to make that plan official.
At its meeting this afternoon, the Airport Commission is set to vote on a deal to redevelop 76 acres just north of Lambert’s main runways, through an agreement with AeroTerm LLC, a Maryland-based company that builds cargo centers at airports across North America.
The site is occupied by unused hangars that once belonged to Boeing and are now owned by Lambert. The airport has been eyeing them for redevelopment for years and began seeking proposals for the site in 2005. It started talks with AeroTerm in 2007, but the weak economy had slowed the process, said Airport Director Richard Hrabko.
"Now we think the timing is pretty good. We’re hopeful that the economy is going to look a little bit better," he said. "We see some light out there, and they do, too."
AeroTerm builds, rents and manages cargo facilities at airports in 35 markets nationwide, including freight hubs such as New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Miami International Airport. Here, it would build or rehab facilities and find cargo companies or freight forwarders to fill them. A company official did not return a message Tuesday afternoon.
Under the deal, AeroTerm has two years to start the first 17-acre phase, though they have an option to walk away until then. Then they have 10 years after that to finish the whole project. They will pay $1.5 million for development rights and must invest at least $40 million in all.
Although talks with AeroTerm began long before St. Louis-area business leaders began pitching Lambert to Chinese air freight carriers, the hangar site would fit in nicely with those plans, Hrabko said. Last month, state and local officials reached an agreement to fund $1.1 million in studies for Chinese cargo, and expect to know early next year just how likely that project is to succeed.
Even if it doesn’t, Hrabko said, the cargo facility will help Lambert compete for more business.
If the Airport Commission approves, the agreement still will need approval by St. Louis city officials. Hrabko said he expected no troubles there.
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