$500K demolition permit will make way for Otto Aviation production operation (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Exposed to decades of sun and filled with asbestos, two old hangars at Cecil Airport are receiving a much-needed makeover as Otto Aviation received the green light for the first phase of its development.
The start-up aircraft manufacturer plans to relocate its operations to Jacksonville, marking a spot at the former naval base in the Westside to build a production facility for its Phantom 3500, a next-generation transonic, fuel-efficient jet.
Jacksonville city officials approved a permit to demolish a significant portion of the hangars for the project. Though they served as a maintenance facility for Boeing, the structures are in dire need of maintenance.
Tearing down the dated portions of the facility is a tedious process, however, as builders with Balfour Beatty Construction LLC are set to investigate lines in the hangars and remove unusable partition walls, electrical lines, mechanical components and plumbing.
A 400-square-foot computer mainframe building is also slated for removal.
The demolition portion of the project has a $500,000 price tag, which is only a small expenditure among the mutli-million dollar capital projects and investments being planned by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority and Otto Aviation. Under its agreement with local leaders, Otto must invest a minimum of $5 million in Hanger 825.
The company must start phase one of construction for its development by June 1, 2027.
Otto Aviation is pouring $430 million into the expansion effort and has an “aggressive timeline” for the build.
The project will culminate in the development of about 100 acres of airport property into a national aircraft production hub, signifying one of the largest advanced manufacturing investments by Jacksonville in recent history.
The aviation start-up is receiving a significant chunk of public money for the project, including a $35 million incentive package. The payoff for city leaders, however, is spurring economic growth at Cecil Airport and bringing 1,200 high-paying jobs to the city.
The foundation for the massive bloom of industrial real estate is far more flat and less flashy: Approach Road.
JAA leaders extended the roadway into the airport as part of their pivot to focusing more on growing research and development investments and other ancillary projects at Cecil.Otto Aviation is required to start phase two of construction for the development by June 1, 2029 and complete a minimum 600,000 square feet total by January 2032.
For JAA, maintaining the infrastructure is a significant expenditure, as it is crucial to supporting the needs of Otto Aviation and its wide variety of maintenance, repair and operations facilities.
Matt Bocchino, director of Cecil Airport and Spaceport, said the funding needed for construction and resurfacing of one-third of a taxiway is going to be north of $20 million.
Investing in the taxiway infrastructure is going to be crucial for the Otto Aviation development as JAA plans to extend the artery for aircraft across Approach Road to Otto Aviation’s 100-acre development.
But raising the cash poses challenges, as receiving support from the Federal Aviation Administration for projects at general aviation airports such as Cecil is challenging.
“It’s going to be, I believe, in the ballpark of $20 million so it’s not a light lift,” Bocchino said. “But we’re trying to find those unique funding sources on top of JAA cash to help get that finished.”