"Area leaders hopeful Mesa airport improvements will spur economic development"

Monday, August 20, 2007

Taking off: Area leaders hopeful Mesa airport improvements will spur
economic development
By Linda Obele
The Business Journal of Phoenix (AZ)


East Valley leaders are banking on increased passenger service and next
month's vote on a new airport name to propel economic development around
Mesa's Williams Gateway Airport to greater heights. 

"Having regularly scheduled passenger service is another feather in our cap
to promote and market the land development side," said airport spokesman
Brian Sexton, referring to Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air's plans to begin
flying in October from Williams Gateway to 13 new destinations. 
 
The airline announced its first two destinations this month: Rockford, in
the Chicago area, and Rapid City, S.D. Other routes will be revealed by
mid-September. 

Sexton said while the carrier's plans still are too fresh to determine their
overall impact, he is confident the phone soon will be ringing with other
carriers that want to get in on the action, as well as new developers that
want to build in and around the airport. 

Vision Air, an established charter carrier, has been offering scheduled
service to and from Las Vegas since April 2006. Officials recently said
Vision intends to launch service to Long Beach, Calif., by year-end. 

"It's like back in high school," Sexton said. "Everyone wants to hang out
with the cool kids." 

He said the airport saw a similar phenomenon occur on the development side
when Boeing Co. announced plans to expand its helicopter operations at
Williams Gateway. Cessna followed suit, breaking ground in April on a
100,000-square-foot Citation service center. Cessna plans to relocate
employees and tooling from its Long Beach, Calif., site once the new center
opens in early 2009. 

Meanwhile, Embraer, a Brazilian maker of executive jets and the world's
third-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, began construction in July
on a 45,000-square-foot maintenance center dedicated to full-service care
for the company's Phenom 100, Phenom 300 and Legacy 600 aircraft. The $8
million facility, scheduled for completion in 2008, includes hangar,
workshop and office space. 

According to a September 2006 report by the Urban Land Institute, the
Williams Gateway area is ripe for all kinds of development. The area
encompasses 42 square miles, including the converted Williams Air Force
Base, Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, the General Motors Proving Grounds, part
of the Gila River Indian Community, and some Maricopa County islands. 

In the next 25 years, ULI panelists predicted a need in that area for
development of 1,575 acres of industrial land, 400 acres of office space,
500 acres of retail space, 5,200 hotel rooms and seven golf courses. The
panel also estimated the population of the area could reach 165,000 and that
more than 68,000 students will attend local institutes of higher learning,
including Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus, located in the
heart of the study area. 

The airport has construction projects under way now on 200 of its 1,000
developable acres, including a new parking lot, taxiway and other
enhancements to support growth of the state's third-busiest airport, Sexton
said. 

East Valley Partnership Executive Director Roc Arnett said development plans
are brewing from a number of different angles outside the airport
boundaries, too. 
 
DMB Associates Inc. plans to build on 3,200 acres of the GM Proving Grounds
at Elliot and Ellsworth roads, which the company purchased from General
Motors last year. Real estate developer Bill Levine owns the property's
remaining 1,700 acres and is planning to build a mixed-use project. 

Paragon Properties is marketing 950 acres near Ellsworth and Pecos roads,
and First Industrial Realty Trust purchased 291 acres at Elliot and
Ellsworth roads for $41.5 million last year, with plans to develop a 3
million-square-foot business park with office, industrial and retail space. 

Arnett said the ULI report encouraged the Williams Gateway Airport Authority
to explore potential development strategies for the area including
industrial facilities, a passenger terminal, a cargo facility, education
facilities, mixed-use development, golf courses and a resort. He also said
the panelists recommended pursuing development of medical facilities to
support the East Valley's aging population. 

Sexton said an interim passenger terminal at the airport is scheduled to be
replaced in 2012 with a permanent facility, but that timeline might have to
be accelerated depending on the need. 

Regarding the name change to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, which is expected
to occur at the WGAA board meeting next month, Arnett and Sexton agreed it
will be another step in marketing the area to a larger audience. 

Sexton said the name change is a contingency of the airport's agreement with
Allegiant Air. 

Said Arnett, "We've been told by people in the airport business that
destinations away from here have no clue where Williams Gateway Airport is.
The name doesn't speak to who or where we are. The change will be nothing
but a plus. It will allow us to market ourselves appropriately across the
country." 

Get connected

Williams Gateway Airport: www.flywga.com

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