Sugar Land - Missouri City Edition | April 2022

Officials consider best airport land use BY LAURA AEBI

Parcel Potential While the Sugar Land Regional Airport’s main source of revenue is the sale of airplane fuel, officials said they are exploring other potential revenue sources, including selling or developing five unused land parcels on the airport’s property.

and landings—according to Sugar Land’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget. Sugar Land Communications Director Doug Adolph said the airport helps position Sugar Land as a regional business leader. “Corporate business travelers utilize the airport to quickly access local mar- kets,” Adolph said. “The close proxim- ity to the Houston region has been an important decision for corporations considering relocations to Sugar Land.” According to the city’s FY 2021-22 budget, airport services make up 4.6% of the city’s total expenditures at $11.68 million, and airport revenues in FY 2020-21 accounted for $15.6 million. Of that revenue, $11.9 million—or 6.3% of the city’s total revenue—came from fuel sales through Global Select, the organization proving aeronautical services to the airport. “Global Select at Sugar Land Regional Airport is a corporate gateway to Houston, and its successes is help- ing fuel the regional economy,” Sugar Land Economic Development Director Elizabeth Huff said. While the facility has long served as a source of revenue and out-of-town visitors, airport officials are looking to capitalize on some of its unused land located on the property. Five parcels totaling 18.24 acres are zoned for nonaviation uses. Many projects in the airport’s 2019 master plan, including an ongoing taxi- way relocation that will finish this year, are waiting on funding from various entities, such as the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division, which helps Texas cities and counties obtain and disburse funds for reliever and general aviation airports. However, the unused parcels will create another source of revenue for the airport. “We want to move forward [with projects], but we can’t move forward until we figure out what the funding is,” Rosenbaum said, adding the airport is always seeking other grants. Targetinggrowth The city has collaborated with the airport on the potential use of the land. Devon Rodriguez, Sugar Land’s assistant director of economic devel- opment, said city staff hopes the site assessment, which began in 2021, will be completed in mid-2022. However, officials already have some insight into how the pieces of land could be used. According to the October presenta- tion, the northernmost tract is appro- priate for hospitality or a free-standing

The Sugar Land Regional Airport could see some new retail, office or hospitality developments in the future, pending the recommendations of a site assessment, airport officials said. Located at the intersection of Hwy. 90 and Hwy. 6, the Sugar Land Regional Airport serves primarily cor- porate entities while also acting as a reliever airport for George Bush Inter- continental Airport and Hobby Airport. While the airport’s primary source of revenue is the sale of fuel for planes using the facility, officials said they are exploring other potential revenue sources, such as selling or developing unused land on the airport’s property. The airport’s 2019 master plan iden- tified five airport-owned sites that could be used for nonaviation pur- poses. An ongoing assessment will determine what development options are legal, possible and allowed while resulting in the highest value, accord- ing to an Oct. 5 meeting of the Sugar Land Development Corporation and Sugar Land 4B Corporation boards. Set to be released in mid-2022, the study will offer insight on how officials may want to develop the remaining land. Uses could include retail, restau- rants, hospitality, light industrial use, and office and administrative use, said Elizabeth Rosenbaum, the director of aviation at the airport. “At this point, they could be any- thing,” Rosenbaum said. “It is going to be an exciting process.” Role of the airport The Sugar Land Regional Airport was established in the 1950s after ​Donald “Doc” Hull—an oral surgeon who pro- vided dental care to inmates located at the nearby Texas Department of Corrections, Southern Region—needed to shorten his commute to the prison, according to Sugar Land’s website. The airport was owned by two dif- ferent owners after Hill, including Fort Bend County, before the city of Sugar Land acquired it in 1990, accord- ing to the city’s website. Now, the air- port provides 482 jobs to the area and is responsible for generating $264,500 every day on average in Fort Bend County, according to a February 2022 economic impact analysis. The data from the analysis also concluded $8,600 is generated daily through local tax revenue via activ- ity at the airport. In 2021, the airport served 13,500 aircrafts with an esti- mated 79,040 operations—or takeoffs

1

RECOMMENDEDUSES Retail Restaurant Office/administrative

Industrial

Hospitality

2

NOTE: ALL LAND SALES PRICES ARE ESTIMATES.

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2.126 acres Sales price: $1.85 million 1 0.418 acres Sales price: $364,000 2 0.418 acres Sales price: $364,000 3 5.969 acres Sales price: $1.95 million 4 9.309 acres Sales price: $2.84 million 5 site stats The city of Sugar Land purchased the airport in 1990 as a “self-sustaining enterprise.” Airport revenue funds the development of the airport. Now, officials are looking to capitalize on existing unused airport property.

IMPERIAL BLVD.

Sugar Land Regional Airport

4

6

90

5

N

total acres 622

takeoffs and landings estimated in 2021 79,040 Fortune 500 companies use the airport on a regular basis. 100+

aircrafts projected to use the airport as their main hangar by 2037 280

SOURCE: SUGAR LAND REGIONAL AIRPORT/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

retail use, such as a restaurant. The two tracts south of it are appropriate for fast-food restaurants or free-standing retail use, and the southeastern tract use will likely be oriented toward low-rise office or administration use. The westernmost plot should be for light industrial use due to access and noise issues based on the land’s loca- tion north of the Union Pacific Corp. railroad, per city documents. Rodriguez said the site assessment will give more insight into the future of each piece of land. “The site assessment will rank opportunity sites based on qualitative [and] objective observations and their alignment with target industry needs,” Rodriguez said.

An earlier phase of the study that took place in 2021 identified five target industry clusters: advanced manufac- turing, life sciences, business and pro- fessional services, information and technology, and tourism. The clus- ters will build on existing industries to leverage aligned opportunities for employment growth and investment, city officials said. “We don’t have a lot of land,” Rodriguez said. “We want to prior- itize [land that we do have] for the specific target industries that we have.”

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

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SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION • APRIL 2022

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