Plans for an air cargo facility at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, which faced pushback from the public, are being dropped.
Developers The Kane Company and Procon are now pivoting away from air cargo and toward other aeronautical-related opportunities at Pease, according to the two companies.
The air cargo proposal had struck a chord across the Seacoast, with many residents raising concerns about how the project could affect their quality of life. Citizens attended a Pease Development Authority board meeting in March, citing potential issues with traffic congestion, increased noise from night flights and possible health and environmental issues. Lawn signs opposing an air cargo facility popped up in communities surrounding the airport.
Now there’s a new plan. The new direction is outlined in a May 12 letter from John Kane, chief investment officer of The Kane Company, and John Stebbins, Procon’s managing director, sent to Paul Brean, executive director of the Pease Development Authority.
Kane and Stebbins informed Brean their search for potential tenants for air cargo purposes revealed a higher demand for aeronautical research and development and advanced manufacturing opportunities. That will become the focus of their proposed development at Pease.
The pair stated Pease “is not an ideal fit” for the majority of major air cargo operators.
“Such operators require a specific set of conditions to ensure economic feasibility for their business, including a constant and heavy stream of passenger flight traffic to support belly cargo transport, a geographically centric location or a location with extremely high population density, and an enormous amount of apron space for high-volume aircraft parking for loading and unloading,” they wrote.
In an interview, Kane and Stebbins noted the lack of demand for locating an air cargo facility in the Seacoast, combined with potential project difficulties and costs as leading to the change in plans.
“It was a live wire, and we just didn’t want to touch it,” Kane said.
Brean noted Pease already handles air cargo, and more air cargo facility development “could be possible” in some form.
In January, the Pease Development Authority board approved giving the Procon/Kane team a 180-day option for two parcels it had its sights set on: Hangar 227 at the end of Aviation Avenue and property near the airport’s north apron, known as the “North 40.”
The tandem group’s proposal for Hangar 227 called for new construction of up to 400,000 square feet. The four-acre facility was originally used by the Air Force when Pease was a Strategic Air Command base, which closed in 1991.
The proposal for land near the “North 40” called for 324,000 square feet of cargo facility development. The undeveloped land is referred to as the “North 40,” because it encompasses roughly 40 acres on the Newington side of the airport.
The Hangar 227 proposal was made by Aviation Avenue Group LLC. The proposal for land near the north apron was made by North 40 Group LLC.
Stebbins noted larger air cargo facilities are better suited for dense urban areas, like Boston, Miami or Los Angeles, or in centrally geographic spots in the Midwest.
“The demand for a monster air cargo facility is not there for Pease. It’s just not there,” he said, adding, “There’s a real demand for advanced manufacturing to take that space right now. I say advanced because it’s not your typical manufacturing,” he said, referencing ideas for the area around Hangar 227. “It’s high-end robot ics, high-dollar value products that (could be) produced there, and real technical jobs.”
Kane and Stebbins said that parties have expressed an interest to move into space immediately. Though from the time when either one of the projects could possibly be approved by the Pease Development Authority’s board, construction could take roughly two years.
East West Aeronautical, an air cargo broker at the Pease International Tradeport, has also stated interest in possibly developing an air cargo facility at Pease. Called the “ACX Project,” East West has detailed a 465,000-square-foot development at the “North 40” site, which was announced by the company in January. East West teamed up with Brooklyn, N.Y.-based investor Valorev Capital for the idea.
The development would entail an air cargo processing warehouse, an aircraft research center, a multipurpose hangar and a museum devoted to the Air Force and Navy.
The company will look to present its plan to the Pease Development Authority board at its meeting in mid-June. Should the board eventually approve a formal East West proposal, Robinson is eyeing late summer or early fall for the beginning of air cargo facility construction.
