Expedia signs five-year lease for old airport terminal

Online travel company Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) has signed a lease to occupy the former Springfield-Branson National Airport terminal building beginning in the fall.

Expedia had been working with the Springfield Business Development Corp. and Springfield's Partnership for Economic Development for six months, evaluating several real estate options, according to an SBDC news release.

In a closed session Tuesday afternoon, the Springfield-Branson National Airport Board approved a five-year lease with Expedia for 59,000 square feet in the northern portion of the 150,000-square-foot vacant building.

The company will pay $4 per square foot annually - $236,000 a year - plus a common-area maintenance charge of $3.64 per square foot annually. Expedia will move in following a renovation of the north portion of the terminal building.

Expedia offers online booking for flights, hotels, rental cars and other vacation packages. The company is not a stranger to Springfield; local startup TravelNow.com, founded in 1995, was purchased by Hotels.com, which then merged with Expedia. Chamber spokeswoman Michelle West said TravelNow's 264 employees will be moving to the terminal building from their current space at 4124 S. McCann Court, and Expedia spokeswoman Katie Deines Fourcin said via e-mail that the company has no immediate plans for expansion.

The airport had received a letter of intent from the Missouri National Guard in August 2009, according to previous Springfield Business Journal coverage. The guard, which operated an Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot facility on airport grounds, was interested in expanding the Army National Guard's Springfield presence, including bringing up to 500 additional soldiers to the area along with adding an Air National Guard presence.

Director of Aviation Gary Cyr said the Expedia lease has no impact on negotiations with the Guard, which are ongoing.[[In-content Ad]]