Aviation real estate developer Western LLC has announced a private-public agreement with North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to develop a corporate aviation campus. The 48-acre project on the northeast side of the airport will include approximately 21 hangars, at a cost of approximately $125 million, ranging from 12,000 sq ft to more than 30,000 sq ft, with the option for attached offices on several of the units.
Western, which received a 25-year ground lease and has a construction window of 10 years, will develop, design, construct, and lease-back the hangars to potential clients, as well as manage and maintain them. The company expects to break ground this fall with targeted completion of Phase 1 by next summer. According to an airport spokesperson, Western will be responsible for the entirety of the campus, including taxiways and utilities.
“RDU is excited to engage Western LLC in its first public-private partnership to build a new, state-of-the-art corporate aviation campus,” said Michael Landguth, president and CEO of the RDU airport authority. “The new campus will support local customers with existing general aviation needs and also help recruit corporate jetsetters whose companies may be considering entry into the Triangle.”