Gated subdivision focuses on aviation

Perfect Landing Airpark is a gated residential community that includes a 5,000-foot runway that will be paved with asphalt or concrete, and approved for Category B aircraft – turbine-powered aircraft with fewer than 30 seats.

Groundbreaking for the development is scheduled for January.

Cloud Niner members Mike Haines, owner/broker of the development, and Tammy Warner, owner and project manager, have conducted extensive research on air parks, as the corporation is targeting both hobby pilots and members of the corporate world who need access to airways close to home.

Perfect Landing Airpark is located just north of Marshfield off Interstate 44.

That spot was chosen for several reasons, Haines said.

“There was a farmer in Marshfield who had 326 acres which was approved by the (Federal Aviation Administration) to have a runway on it. It also had to be 20 nautical miles from another airport, ” he said, declining to disclose the name of the seller or the purchase price.

But there are other advantages, too.

“Since we are centrally located, we put people in reach of the entire country,” Warner said. “Plus, we are right off of (I-44). A lot of very successful airparks are located roughly in the middle of nowhere. We are 20 minutes away from a major city.”

While Perfect Landing will be only one of about 600 air parks across the U.S. the developers believe the project is viable for southwest Missouri.

“The first thing the banks ask you is ‘Who has a plane?’ There are 322 aircraft owners in Greene County alone and approximately 35,000 pilots in the four-state area,” Warner said.

Haines noted that Perfect Landing was born because Cloud Niner wanted to develop a subdivision that offered something different than others in the area.

“Tammy’s son is a pilot, and he suggested that we think about doing an airpark community, ” Haines said.

Ozark Mountain Consultants Engineers & Surveyors Inc. is providing civil engineering and land surveying for the infrastructure design of Perfect Landing Air Park, as well as design services for water and waste-water supply and distribution and treatment systems, transportation systems, stormwater management and flood control.

The preliminary plat for Perfect Landing includes 86 taxiway lots with direct access to the runway. There are also 191 residential lots, 19 villa lots for fly-in travelers and 19 equestrian lots upon which owners may build horse barns to accommodate up to two horses.

Depending on location and future use, lots range in price from $35,000 to $200,000. Warner said he has $500,000 worth of signed contracts, and another $400,000 worth of contracts pending.

The development also is to include a community equestrian center and riding trails, a driving range, a fly-in restaurant, a private aviators’ club, spring-fed lakes stocked with bass, all-terrain vehicle trails, a fitness center with racquetball courts, a pool and tennis courts.

Because Perfect Landing is designed to accommodate small personal planes, developers don’t expect noise pollution to be a factor for subdivision residents or the city of Marshfield.

The development will be surrounded by an 8-foot privacy fence with a biometric gated entry and camera surveillance.

While groundbreaking at Perfect Landing is still several weeks away, Cloud Niner is already scouting a location for a second air park.

“Our goal is that this is just the first of many,” Haines said. “We’d like to have four or five across the country – all connected so that people can go cross country from park to park.”