The Bellingham Business Journal
By Dave Gallagher
May, 2003

FEDEX ANCHORING NEW AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT

Construction began in late April on company’s new 31,700 square foot facility; Port seeking ways to lure more tenants into newly available sites

The Port of Bellingham is hoping some new infrastructure work will be the catalyst for economic development at the airport.

With the Mitchell Way road and utility extension project completed, the port now has more than 20 available acres of property on the north side of the Bellingham airport to attract developers.

FedEx Express is the first company to make a move into the area, starting construction in late April on a 31,700 square foot building. It will be a significant improvement over their current space, which has just 9,000 square feet.

“We are pleased to get this project under way, especially the local employees who know how crowded the current facility gets,” said Ben Colcol, senior project manager for FedEx Express.

The port launched the project last summer as part of its economic development initiative. It included adding water, sewer and power lines, along with constructing an extension to Mitchell Way and changing it to a two-way road.

The infrastructure costs totaled $2.7 million, of which FedEx paid $600,000. In making the announcement last summer, Port Commissioner Scott Walker said it was the ideal kind of development for the airport because it was a private-public partnership that would benefit the entire community.

“This is an ideal project because it enhances both an existing business and strengthens the port’s core aviation business,” Walker said. “Cargo-expansion capabilities benefit the business community and this creates new opportunities by making additional land available for aviation-related development.”

What remains to be seen is whether the addition of infrastructure will lure other companies to the airport. Art Choat, special projects director for the port, said there have been some encouraging inquiries, but it is a tough sell to get airport-related companies unless the property has access to the runway.

“If these parcels of land had runway access, they would already be leased,” Choat said. “Because this property is a little bit away from the runway, we’re trying to be flexible with developers. If we were approached by someone looking to build a non-airport-related office building, we would be interested in trying to work something out.

“However, we are still pursuing airport-related businesses for those sites. We can be flexible, such as finding ways for planes to taxi over to those sites. There are no takers yet but I’m confident that it is an attractive site for companies,” he said.

Shirley McFearin, real estate development manager, said she expects to lease out about two acres a year. She said the key is being open to many possibilities; they do not have parcel sizes set in stone.

“We’ve just started our marketing campaign, an d it will sell based on what the customer wants,” McFearin said. “It’s an attractive site not only for airport-related businesses, but also for office and manufacturing. It is close to I-5, developers can start building right away and there are fiber optic options available.”

Now that the 22 acres of land has infrastructure to allow development on the north end of the airport, the port can temporarily put aside plans for development on the airport’s west side. Those plans have run into governmental red tape for years as two federal agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers, have butted heads on what to do with the wetlands in that area.

The EPA wants wetland mitigation, which would mean putting a pond somewhere near the airport. The FAA doesn’t want wetland mitigation near the airport, because it would attract waterfowl that could cause problems for planes taking off and landing at the airport. It’s an issue that’s been debated for several years at small- to mid-size airports across the country – and may not be resolved anytime soon, Choat said.

FedEx going modern
The building, designed by McMahon Development, is being built by Sierra Construction and is expected to be completed by October. When announced last summer, the building was scheduled to be completed in May, but FedEx had some delays getting ready.

“It should be a straightforward project now that we’ve broken ground,” said Gil Mell, site supervisor for Sierra Construction. “Having the water and sewer infrastructure already in place makes it a much easier job.”

The building will accommodate 24 delivery vans, up from the 13 the present site can currently handle. More importantly, it will get rid of that cramped feeling customers and employees may have when they go into the current facility, said Senior Manager Doug Eatros.

“One of the biggest draws to this new building is it will enhance the customer experience,” said Eatros. “From more efficient counter designs and sorting operations to more parking, it’s geared toward making everything easier. When that happens, it’ll improve the image of the company.”

FedEx started thinking about expansion about three years ago. When it was time to approach the port about plans for the site, they were met with enthusiasm, said Andrew Gracey, director of property development for McMahon Development.

“As far as public entities go, the port was one of the most helpful in getting a project going,” Gracey said. “They were very flexible in agreeing to a deal that would fit with FedEx’s plans.”

The fact the company needs to expand is a barometer of a growing economy, Colcol said. He noted that more than 1,400 FedEx packages come into the county every day, and that figure is growing about 3 percent a year.