A mural and exterior improvements at the Propeller maker space at Columbus Municipal Airport is among upgrades completed earlier this year.
Republic file photo
Columbus Municipal Airport will provide another year of partial rent relief to the makerspace located on its property.
The Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners has approved Columbus Propeller’s request for an additional year of 50% rent abatement, said airport director Brian Payne.
Columbus Propeller has been described as a place for both “makers” and entrepreneurs. It is located in two buildings that are owned by the airport and were previously occupied by Cummins, Inc., which had used the space for testing engines. The buildings have since been outfitted for a variety of activities, including 3-D printing, machining, welding, woodworking, electronics, sewing and vinyl cutting. There are also spaces for startup support and STEAM classes.
Airport officials have said in the past that Propeller’s lease runs from the beginning of August 2021 through the end of July 2024, with two one-year options to renew. It then continues on a year-to-year basis.
The initial lease agreement included a 100% rent abatement for the first six months, then 50% abatement for a year. After that, the rent was set to go to $3,000 monthly until the end of the lease.
Payne said that the makerspace was supposed to switch to full rent earlier this year.
“They’ve been asking the board for quite some time, so I think the conversation was that we would continue to leave it at $1,500 until the board was to make a decision,” he said. “So this was retroactively approved by that 12-month time. So it’s 12 months as of February of 2023 into the future. … This was the formal agreement process.”
Because Payne is a board member of Propeller, he said he stayed neutral during the conversations regarding rent and had Propeller leaders communicate directly with aviation board president Mark Pillar. Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Frey and Propeller Board President Bryan Rushton then presented the request and discussed the makerspace’s progress at the aviation board’s June 13 meeting.
Rent abatement isn’t the airport’s only contribution to the makerspace; the aviation board also voted in spring of 2022 to approve the use of up to $20,000 to replace an HVAC system at the space, with plans to reimburse the expense using American Rescue Plan Act funds. Payne said at the time that the airport had also put $8,000 into the group’s buildings regarding mitigation for possible asbestos.
The vote to help replace HVAC had been 4-1, with Commissioner Doug Van Klompenburg voting against the measure. However, Payne said that the decision to continue rent abatement was unanimous, with all members present and voting in favor.
“The board seemed very supportive of it,” he said. “I know many of them now have had an opportunity to go to Propeller and actually see what’s going on there and the improvements that had been made already to the building. It was much less debate than I thought there would be.”
According to Payne, Propeller has 50 paying members and is getting “busier all the time.”
He added that Propeller leadership believes that the recent hire of full-time training coordinator Tracy Munn will help bring more people to the space.
“He’s making great connections right now,” said Payne. “And I think it’s definitely going to be much more successful in this next year.”
