A third-party firm is seeking to reserve 150 acres at Walesboro on behalf of another company, but airport officials are looking for more flexibility before agreeing to keep the land off the market.
The Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners decided to table the request so the board could further negotiate with SR Assets LLC, the firm in question. The property is west of the Cummins, Inc. test track and north of Faurecia.
“We don’t know really anything about the company,” said Airport Director Brian Payne. “They’re being represented by another, third-party firm. They have asked for the opportunity to essentially have this option, if the board would agree to that, so that they could do their due diligence on the property.”
The current version of the land option agreement, as proposed by SR Assets, would keep the land off the market for at least one year and give the company an option to renew for another year, according to Payne and aviation board attorney Stan Gamso. The fee for the agreement is minimal.
SR Assets’ client is seeking an option to lease and possibly buy the land, depending on how negotiations turn out, said Gamso. However, the airport also wants to ensure that the aviation board has an opportunity to “fully investigate” their prospective lessee or buyer.
“Right now we don’t know who that is, so we want to afford you that opportunity to do your due diligence, gather the necessary information you need, and determine if that’s a proper business for the community at some point in time and/or if they have the financial wherewithal to deal with this,” he said.
Aviation board members indicated that they would like to change the terms of the land option agreement prior to approving it. Payne agreed that the current version wasn’t necessarily in their best interest.
“We’re basically giving them the right to determine the future of that ground for the next two years for no compensation,” said Commissioner Doug Van Klompenburg.
One option that was discussed was allowing the company to keep a maximum term of two years but putting in a right of refusal clause, wherein if another interested party emerges, the company would have the opportunity to match their price.
“I wouldn’t want to lose a live one at the risk of an optional one,” said commissioner Brad Davis, who suggested the idea.
Another possibility, which Payne said he would prefer, would be to have the initial term be one year, with renewal at the sole discretion of the airport board and no right of first refusal clause. These conditions were part of a previous version of the agreement. SR Assets then came back with an amended document.
After some discussion, the board decided to table the matter and look into which of the two options the third-party firm would prefer. This was done at the suggestion of Gamso, who said they would then hope to have a formal document ready for approval at a later meeting.
Interestingly, Payne described the property in question as the “least desirable portion of land” owned by the airport and “the most significant of the flooded areas.” Additionally, while it has access to water and electricity, road access is limited.
The airport has been working with the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. for quite some time in hopes of bringing development to this property, but there isn’t much interest, and the long-term concept of a test track has been put on the backburner.
“At 150 acres, this would be a huge win for us as an airport,” said Payne.
