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Build it and they might bulldoze
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http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/new...wCommentAnchor Finally, I am very happy where I am now even though the airport owner has refused my pleas on many occasions to "section off a piece" and allow me to build my own hangar with right of access to his property. I continue to rent like everybody else on a month to month basis. This is probably a blessing in disguise because as the property owner, he has the perfect right to sell his airport at anytime that unforseen circumstances or even casual whim compel him to act in his own self-interest and sell. I really don't see that happening anytime soon but life does have a way of throwing curve balls at us from time to time. |
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In the St. Louis area the Troy Air Park owners have voted by a 77% margin to upgrade to an asphalt runway which will be installed if it ever stops raining. We need a mini draught sometime this summer to get this project completed. With regard to lot sales, there are several for sale here by owners who have lost interest. One was sold recently to a couple from Oklahoma who plan to move here after retirement in 2 years. There are many air parks around the country. Check it out. It is a viable option to renting and/or dealing with the uncertainties of leasing land. And the community life is good, at least it is here. We have great people with much sharing of tools and airplane talk and mowing grass. We do our own mowing on a volunteer basis and it works. We build and fly together, and we do formation mowing together. :) |
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If your hangar is connected to the city water supply, you may pay a monthly flat rate regardless how much you use or not use.
Items stored in the hangar such as boats or motorcycles that can be insured by themselves are not covered by your hangar policy. As mentioned above, some airports have renewable leases for the land and hangars. Other airports will own the building you paid for over the life of the lease. Some airports don't allow trailerable aircraft to operate on the premises. Some airports don't allow owners to perform maintenance. Choose your hangar neighbor carefully. The rainwater falling on your hangar's roof may belong to your city or county. The airport manager may determine your place needs some sprucing up by next week. |
You should contact the Airport Manager and get the Airport rules, sometimes called the minimum standards. This will often clarify what can or cannot be stored within the hangar and if you are allowed to trailer aircraft in/out.
Additionally, when was the hangar built? If it is old and that door begins to sag, you may need to rebuild it which could cost a lot of money. Verify the ground lease is for the hangar too, it may include the ramp right in front of the hangar and you may be responsible for repairing the asphalt, which could be huge money. Also check into whether there is an electrical meter on your individual building, PG&E right? We have a row of hangars out here that everyone shares one meter and some owners pay a share of electrical into it even if they have not been to the hangar in years. It causes a lot of conflict. |
I'll give you my .02 worth as it relates to hangars at Butler County airport here in Ohio. I built a row of 10 nested T-hangars and I'm in the process of selling them. We have a 60 year land lease with Butler county, which costs us $7890. per year and will be adjusted every 5 years in concert with the CPI for the midwest. We also pay property tax which is about .30/sq.ft. We have insurance on the building which costs $670. per year right now, and we also share in electric costs which run about 90 dollars per year, per unit. We don't have water or sewer in our building. The roof, exterior end walls, and doors are all insulated. This is done to control condensation, but has a very positive effect on moderating the temperature. This past cold winter in Cincinnati, the temperature never got below 37 degrees inside my hangar - without heat. I can heat up my hangar to 60 with a torpedo heater fairly quickly. I think your most important consideration should be the land lease and the land owner's attitude and future plans for the airport. I don't think I would buy a hangar on leased land if the lease term has less than 20 years remaining without some assurance that the lease will be extended and that there are cost controls on the rate. As far as renting your unit, find out what the vacancy rate is at your airport. My airport has gone from no vacancy with a 20 plane waiting list, to now having vacancies. We haven't had trouble getting renters if we want them, maybe because our hangars are so new. I bought a hangar here about 9 years ago for $22,000. that is now worth $45,000. I don't expect that kind of appreciation on my new hangars, but there will be some because the cost of materials keeps rising.
I hope this helps. |
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