Industrial Park Expansion: The County Wants to Open Land for Development Around Airport

By Wesley P. Hester, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Mar. 2–Chesterfield County has long touted its airport and adjoining industrial park as key amenities to lure new businesses.

Now it is working to improve the formula, buffing the airport with more than $20 million in improvements and looking for a way to open more than 400 acres around it for development.

The county-owned airport is the second busiest in the Richmond region. The industrial park is almost filled with businesses large and small — only two small tracts remain. But other areas around the airport remain undeveloped.

County officials and civic leaders want to change that by providing water and sewage services in the state Route 10 corridor at the entrance to the airport and by significantly expanding the industrial park.

E. Wilson Davis Jr., Chesterfield’s economic development director, said he envisions a circle of commerce around state Routes 288 and 10 “with a vibrant airport in the middle.”

The airport

Built in 1973, the Chesterfield County Airport is in the heart of the county near the courthouse complex, with easy access to Route 288 and Interstate 95. The general-use airport covers almost 600 acres and has a 5,500-foot runway. It’s used primarily by private planes and corporate aircraft, offering an alternative to Richmond International Airport.

Chesterfield averages more than 200 flights in and out daily, with about 140 aircraft based there. That places it among the 10 busiest airports in the state, according to the Virginia Department of Aviation, and fourth largest in the state based on the number of planes that call it home.

The airport is in the midst of a series of upgrades — the runway and terminal have been rebuilt, new hangars added and more parking lots and improved taxiways are to come.

It’s already proved to be a valuable commodity for the county. A study from the Virginia Department of Aviation from 2004 estimates the economic impact of the airport on the Chesterfield area to be almost $17 million annually.

“This airport is a tremendous economic engine,” said Charles Dane, who oversees the airport as deputy director of general services for the county.

The Airpark

The adjoining 300-acre industrial park was established by the county in 1972.

Used for light industry and manufacturing, housing processing plants and offices, the Chesterfield County Industrial Airpark is near capacity with about 60 businesses. The privately developed Hanover Industrial Airpark has 500 businesses on 360 acres next to the Hanover County Airport.

Maruchan Virginia Inc. is the largest of the Chesterfield park’s tenants. The ramen and instant-soup manufacturer recently expanded its processing plant to more than 450,000 square feet. It has 420 employees.

Davis estimated the Chesterfield airpark generates $1 million in taxes for the county annually.

Quantum Silicones Inc., a silicone and polymer manufacturing business, was established in the airpark 10 years ago. President Tom Loman said he liked the area for its location and its potential. The business moved from one part of the park to a larger parcel four years ago to expand, and is now looking to do so again by acquiring a second location within the park.

“It’s perfect, and the county has been great to us,” said Loman, who uses the airport often for business needs. “Either our clients land here to visit us or stop to pick us up on company outings.”

Water and sewer infrastructure

Roger Habeck, the founder and former executive director of the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce, is working on a plan to develop water and sewer infrastructure for 335 acres along state Route 10 — Iron Bridge Road — near the entrance to the airport.

Utility service to the area, just north of the county government complex, is overdue, he said. “There’s a prime development area there along Route 10,” he said. He said he envisions a commercial park with retail and restaurants along the main road and industrial use behind it.

County officials believe such development would make the airport more attractive to corporations considering relocating to the county.

“All of it would provide opportunity for us,” Dane said.

The Airport Advisory Board is developing a new master plan that will reflect the focus on economic development for the surrounding area, he said.

Land to Expand

Davis, the economic development director, said the county is interested in acquiring more land near the airport to expand the airpark and attract air-related businesses.

A nearly untouched tract of about 100 acres that the county sold in the 1970s to help pay for the airpark’s development is about all that’s available for industrial development under current zoning. The parcel on Whitepine Road on the west side of the airport is owned by Midlantic (Richmond) Investors C.P. and brokered by Avanti Development Corp.

Davis said the land would allow for the county to expand the airpark, but the county has no immediate plans to purchase it.

The Future

The airport is well-positioned to take advantage of increasing corporate reliance on general aviation, said Thomas T. “Mike” Mickel Jr., president of Dominion Aviation Services Inc., the airport’s fixed-base operator.

He said business for his company, which provides fuel sales, aircraft charters and flight training, has been steadily increasing for five years.

“With the exception of Richmond’s East End, this airport is more convenient to almost all parts of Richmond than Richmond International,” Mickel said, adding that Chesterfield is not just for the little guys any more. “One of the biggest misconceptions about this airport is that it’s just small planes.”

The airport can accommodate medium-size jets like the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737, and routinely lands Gulfstream business jets, Mickel said.

Dane noted that light-business jets are increasingly common even for smalland medium-size companies as commercial air travel has become difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

“Since 9/11, there has been a trend by corporations to move into their own aviation operations,” Dane said. “Time becomes very valuable, and we’re trying to position ourselves to take advantage of that.” Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

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