The Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners is beginning formal negotiations with T.M. Crowley & Associates (TMCA) for development of the former Walesboro Airport property.
The company was the only respondent to the request for proposals (RFP) the aviation board released in June regarding the Walesboro property.
The RFP called for proposals from “qualified developers and/or development teams to purchase and offer comprehensive development services to design, build, establish and operate a transportation proving ground, research and development, and/or testing and validation complex on approximately 465, 535, or up to 625 acres of available land.”
The number of acres available will depend whether current tenants, including Faurecia and Cummins, agree to vacate or amend. The RFP estimated that groundbreaking might occur in the second quarter of 2021.
“We anticipate drafting a timeline and terms sheets in a couple weeks for the purposes of further negotiation,” Airport Director Brian Payne said in a letter drafted to TMCA from the board.
In June, Payne said 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.”
“There is a lot of ground yet to cover on this, but I do feel like this is a viable entity for us to consider, continue in good faith negotiations with, as it relates to their direction, their vision for what this could be,” Commissioner Brad Davis said.
The Greater Columbus Economic Development Corporation assisted the aviation board in preparation of the RFP and the evaluation process.
TMCA is a private real estate development company headquartered in Indianapolis. Its work includes projects in retail, industrial, and service-driven industries.
In recent years, TMCA worked with Toyota Tsusho America Lafayette One, LLC to create a $26.9 million extension to its facilities in Lafayette. The extension is a 500,000 square foot facility on 46 acres of land.
Some of TMAC’s other partners include Sunbelt Rentals, CVS Pharmacy, and Cumberland Farms.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the board also discussed a project that involves designing a non-traditional sports area for football, rugby and lacrosse at a 60-acre parcel between Warren Drive, River Road and Cunningham Drive.
“We’ve talked about this for quite some time,” Payne said. “We have an encumbrance that is now two years old. An encumbrance is still our money, it’s still in our bank account, but it’s held for a certain project. You can only hold it two times over. So we have to use it either by the end of this year or not, essentially, have it for that project.”
The board decided to table the discussion regarding the non-traditional sports area and see first what progress occurs with Walesboro.
