The Hangar Corporation of America has been cleared by the township to begin the construction of new hangars at New Garden Flying Field
By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer KennettTimes.com
The New Garden Board of Supervisors approved a deal to build new hangers at the New Garden Flying Field, similar to the hanger seen here in the background during this year's AirShow.
NEW GARDEN — The New Garden Flying Field will finally move into the next phase of development for its new hangar installation thanks to a unanimous vote of approval by the township Board of Supervisors to grant a land-lease agreement to Dan Haug of the Hangar Corporation of America.
On Monday night Airport Manager Jonathan Martin appeared before the board to answer questions regarding the project and the specific nature of the intended development of the eastern end of the airport which will be the site of the new hangar construction.
“After several meetings we’ve finalized the land-lease agreement which details acceptable and affordable hangars for the airport,” Martin said, “This agreement with Mr. Haug consists of the development of a newly constructed modern hangar unit on the East end of the airport…the cost associated with the development and the ongoing maintenance of the facility will be at no cost to the airport or the township, but to the developer and the hangar owners themselves.”
The developer and the owners will also be responsible for general facility upkeep such as snowplowing, salting, and landscaping in the immediate area.
The hangars themselves are of the “T” and “Box varieties. The smaller, T-shaped hangars are designed to house smaller, recreational aircraft, whereas the larger, box-style hangars are designed to hold larger aircraft such as twin engine propeller planes or personal jets. These two types of hangars are situated in a row with seven T-hangars and two box hangers comprising the rectangular hangar unit.
The airport will benefit by the increased traffic of hangar occupants not only from the sale of the hangars themselves but also from the increased sales of aviation fuel to these occupants, this being the primary ways the airport generates revenue.
“I believe that the hangar development at the airport will help aid the airport’s self-sustaining nature,” Martin said.
The demand for hangar space at New Garden Airport is high. “As it stands we have a waiting list of about twenty-seven people for the use of our current facilities,” Martin said. The airport currently houses approximately 100 aircraft in hangar/enclosed facilities and an additional 30 on open-air grounds. The township also stands to benefit from the additional revenue generated by the use of these new facilities, “the initial development of this hangar complex will see $6,500 a year based on the land-lease rate and increased fuel sales of about $15,000 per year.”
The new hangars will be available for purchase or for rent to interested clients. Those who opt to purchase hangars will pay the initial cost of the unit ($65,000 for a T-hangar and $120,000 for a box hangar) as well as the annual land-lease fee ranging anywhere from 20 cents to 65 cents per square foot.
Martin hopes that construction of these new hangars will pave the way for revitalization of the airport and surrounding commerce, and is prepared for more to be placed in the future.
“The airport has a master plan which specifies areas of the airport that are suitable for construction of hangars…on the west side we have an area prepped…that’s further down the road,” he said.
All that remains is for the developer, Haug, to sign the land-lease agreement. Once that is done construction is expected to commence shortly and the project is expected to be finished by the end of 2011.
Please do a follow up story about how the township presented this crook who took all the deposits and disappeared. They don’t even have an address so that investors can contact him. I suspect that this is a scam that he has used in other states.