The city of McKinney has broken ground on the future home of the US$16m McKinney Air Center, a state-of-the-art fixed-base operator (FBO) terminal at the McKinney National Airport in Texas.
The terminal will span 17,000ft² in addition to a 40,000ft² transient hangar. The new executive terminal will include two conference rooms alongside a flight planning room, training room, media room, pilot lounge and refreshment center, as well as an outdoor lounge and package storage.
There will be build-to-suit office space available for lease, curbside luggage service, a porte-cochere entry, and on-site car rental fleet and services. Construction is expected to take approximately 12-18 months.
City funding comes from the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Community Development Corporation, which each contributed US$4m toward the project. The remaining US$2m will come from the airport construction fund.
George Fuller, mayor for the city of McKinney, said, “This new state-of-the-art FBO terminal will help us compete with other world-class facilities that are vying for the lucrative dollars generated by the many corporate fleets pouring into Collin County and the larger Dallas area.
In terms of operations, March was the busiest month at the airport in 17 years. Facilities like this will continue to increase the airport’s value as an economic driver in our region.”
The city will contribute US$10m in a lease purchase agreement that will be credited toward the final purchase of the facilities. Business development company Western will contribute the remaining funding for the project and be responsible for the construction and development of the facilities.
Western will own the facilities until the city has fulfilled its lease obligations during the next 20 years, when the facilities will become city-owned. The city has the option to purchase the facilities at any time before the end of the lease agreement.
Brad Henderson, president and managing member of Western, commented, “The airport and FBO in McKinney have been receiving national recognition for many years and we are thrilled to be part of their development as they move to bring their facilities on par with their reputation for world-class service.”
