The Board of Aviation Commissioners, which is still receiving proposals to develop the former Walesboro airport property, has now decided to engage the services of two companies to complete appraisals of the land.
The board has approved seeking appraisals by Indianapolis firm Integra Realty Resources and First Appraisal Group out of Bloomington.
Integra’s appraisal will take about 30 days and costs $4,500; First Appraisal’s will take about 45 days and costs $3,750.
In June, the city of Columbus and the board announced they are looking for “qualified developers and/or development teams to purchase and offer comprehensive development services to design, build, establish and operate a transportation Proving Ground, Research & Development, and/or Testing and Validation Complex on approximately 465, 535 or up to 625 acres of available land” at Walesboro site.
The number of acres available will depend whether current tenants, including Faurecia and Cummins, agree to vacate or amend.
“I explained to them (the appraisers) that we don’t know how many acres that we’re necessarily talking about right now, but they said they can go ahead and move forward with some of the research data and fact-finding and gathering as soon as we give them the OK,” said airport director Brian Payne. “And then once we know how many acres the possible purchaser would like, then they can finalize that appraisal.”
The board also agreed to engage the services of attorney Marci Reddick, who is a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister in Indianapolis. Payne said that Reddick would communicate with the Federal Aviation Administration and handle “other sale items,” in regard to the airport property.
The board’s attorney, Mary Stroh, said that Reddick agreed with the decision to get appraisals.
Stroh said Reddick has worked on large projects similar to this for the Indianapolis airport, and also working with the city of Indianapolis.
“And she suggested moving forward with the appraisals would be a good move. It is an investment, not knowing exactly what will come out of this, but if we then choose to do something else within the next couple of years, hopefully these numbers will stick, at least as a source for looking back on for FAA approval,” she said.
Working with the FAA is required as the property is a former airport. Before the city can move forward with any sort of development of the former airport, it must first receive permission from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense to sell the property, airport officials said in previous interviews.
Proposals for the Walesboro property are due by 4 p.m. on July 31.
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The city and the Board of Aviation Commissioners are looking for “qualified developers and/or development teams to purchase and offer comprehensive development services to design, build, establish and operate a transportation Proving Ground, Research & Development, and/or Testing and Validation Complex on approximately 465±, 535±, or up to 625± acres of available land” at the former Walesboro airport property. The number of acres available will depend on if current tenants, such as Faurecia and Cummins, agree to vacate or amend.
Proposals are due July 31, 2020 by no later than 4:00 PM.
It should be noted that, as stated in the RFP, “The Board of Aviation Commissioners does not guarantee that any Respondent or proposal will be selected, and the Board of Aviation Commissioners reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.”
The RFP estimated that, if a development proposal is selected, groundbreaking might occur in the second quarter of 2021.
The Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation (EDC) assisted the Board of Aviation Commissioners in preparation of the RFP and will continue to offer advisory services throughout the evaluation process.
Airport director Brian Payne stated in June that since the land in question is still airport-owned property, the Federal Aviation Administration “will review any kind of sales agreements, along with designs and making sure that it is best, not just for the airport, but also for the city of Columbus.”
The RFP noted that one consideration developers should take into account is the site’s floodplain status.
“Shortly after the local 2012 Study was completed, as part of a routine update of floodplain maps throughout Indiana, FEMA and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) designated the majority of the site within a 100-year (1%) floodplain, with depths of less than one feet up to four feet or more,” the document stated. “All improvements within a Floodplain will be required to comply with all applicable local, State and/or Federal codes.”
The RFP added that, in 2018-19, the city worked with civil engineering firm Christopher B. Burke Engineering, LLC “to identify potential measures to remove and/or consolidate floodplain or floodway areas to maximize flood-free development acreage, assuming the former runways remained onsite.” Information about the firm’s proposal is available upon request.
Developers are also encouraged to obtain letters of support from both Cummins and Faurecia.
“We recognize both Faurecia and Cummins are number one manufacturers when it comes to test tracks,” Payne said. “We want to make sure that we do no harm to our current tenants, that we do no harm to our current developers that are on that property.”
Interested developers can download a copy of the RFP at https://www.columbus.in.gov/airport/ and www.columbusin.org or by emailing Payne at [email protected] to request a copy.
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