A public hearing will be held next month regarding plans to construct a new 9,600-square-foot hangar at the Schenectady County Airport.
Sandy Jackson, the owner of the Schenectady-based Jackson Demolition, is seeking to lease a 1-acre plot of land to construct the hangar, which will store multiple planes used by company officials to fly out to job sites across the country.
County lawmakers set the public hearing on the proposal during a meeting of the Public Facilities, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee this past week.
Jackson Demolition was established in 1949 and has active demolition sites across the country. The company was recently named a top-10 firm for demolition and wrecking by Engineering News-Record, a construction and engineering publication. Jackson Demolition brought in $53.5 million in revenue in 2022, according to the publication.
Under the lease agreement, Jackson would pay the county $12,000 a month for the property for the first year. The rate would increase 3% annually or at the rate of the consumer price index, whichever is greater. The lease term would be for 20 years and include two five-year renewal options.
Jackson would also enter into a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement — a move that would add to the tax base for the town of Glenville and the Scotia-Glenville Central School District. The cost of the project will be funded entirely by Jackson.
“That is not always the case with many other municipal airports around the country, but we think it’s very important that these hangars and these other developments at the airport participate and pay taxes,” said Ray Gillen, the county’s top economic development official and chair of the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority.
The proposal still needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. A public hearing on the project will take place on Feb. 5 during the next county Legislature committee meeting.
If approved, the hangar will be the latest addition to the county airport that has seen significant growth in recent years. SUNY Schenectady County Community College opened a new hangar for its aviation program last year.
In 2022, the county sold just over 6 acres of airport land to a private developer for just over $500,000 at the Airport Business Park in order to construct a pair of new buildings totaling 38,000 square feet.
The business park has seen millions in investments in recent years and is home to a number of large businesses, including Bruno Associates, C2 Design Group, DSM and SuperPower. The airport is also home to the 109th Airlift Wing of the state’s National Guard, the Empire State Aerosciences Museum and the Schenectady County Recreational Facility, which is set to undergo a $2.5 million upgrade later this year.
Last year, the county made available 20 acres for lease, which Gillen said is actively being marketed and is directly responsible for the proposed hangar project.
“The airport is really becoming a tax-base generator, a revenue generator and a job generator for the county,” Gillen said.