GEORGETOWN, Del., Oct. 13, 2005 – Five new tenants will be flying into the Sussex County Airport thanks to a lease deal approved this week.

Sussex County Council, at its Oct. 11 meeting, approved leasing five new half-acre pad sites at the airport near Georgetown, just to the south of the terminal building off Railroad Avenue, for corporate hangars.

The private tenants have each agreed to pay $9,000 annually to lease their respective lots, on which they will build their own 10,000-square-foot hangars.

Council approved leasing all of the sites for the same terms: 30 years, with two 10-year options for lease extensions. Rent will be waived in the first two years, as an incentive, then fixed at $9,000 annually for the following three years. After that, rent would increase yearly, relative to the Consumer Price Index, for the balance of the lease term.

The leases will be executed in the coming weeks, and construction on the five new hangars should begin by spring. All of the tenants must have their hangars built within 18 months of beginning construction.

County officials said the new tenants will bring with them at least a dozen jobs in all – from pilots to mechanics – and will spawn indirect economic benefits to vendors, suppliers and others in the local business community.

“This is good economic news for Sussex County,” said Steve Masten, director of the Sussex County Economic Development Office, which manages the airport. “These five additional tenants not only add activity and diversity to the airport, but they will help infuse dollars into the airport and the local economy.”

The $45,000 in lease revenue the county will collect annually from the new tenants will be used for maintenance and operations at the general aviation airport. Already, the county has nine leases for lots or space, and 20 more leases for hangar/lot combinations at the airport. Those will generate approximately $155,000 in revenue in the fiscal 2006 budget.

The leases approved by council are the latest in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar effort by Sussex County to improve amenities and safety at the Sussex County Airport, which hosts everything from single-engine airplanes to large business jets. The airport records about 38,000 landings and takeoffs yearly.

Other improvements, either planned, in progress or completed, include:

• Extending by 1,000 feet the main 5,000-foot-long runway at the airport, as well as re-aligning nearby Park Avenue. That will cost approximately $20 million, with the Federal Aviation Administration paying 90 percent of the project, and the state and county splitting the rest. That project will occur in 2008 or 2009. Engineering and land acquisition is already underway;
• Rehabilitating a second, currently abandoned runway, possibly as early as next year, at a cost of $7 million, with the federal government again paying 90 percent of the cost;
• Installing a precision approach path lighting system, which should be operational by the end of the year;
• Erecting a new airport beacon, which will rise 145 feet into the air, making the airport easier for pilots to find;
• Building a perimeter fence surrounding the airport to improve security;
• Creating the five hangar pad sites for lease, with improvements to an adjoining apron, taxiway and service road.
• The construction of a $1.2 million terminal building, finished in 2002, which includes a restaurant and the airport operator.

“Collectively, these improvements to the airport make it attractive for the corporate market and general aviation to do business in Sussex County,” Masten said.