Missouri National Guard to lease old airport terminal space

Roughly a year after moving into its new midfield terminal, officials with the Springfield-Branson National Airport, along with Gov. Jay Nixon, announced a second tenant for the space left in the old terminal.

The Missouri Army and Air National Guard will occupy 25,000 square feet in the south end of the old terminal, the two parties announced Thursday.

The guard's lease will initially run through September 2010, with an annual renewal option through 2015. The lease rate of $6.34 annually per square foot, totaling $158,500, covers the $3 base lease rate along with $3.34 for grounds keeping, utilities and maintenance, according to an airport news release.

The airport and the guard have been negotiating terms of a lease since mid-2009, according to past Springfield Business Journal coverage. The guard sent airport officials a letter of intent to occupy part of the vacant space in August, noting that the move could bring up to 500 additional Army National Guard soldiers to the area along with a new presence for the Air National Guard.

The guard already has a presence in Springfield with its Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot at the airport and the Fremont Street armory, which house a combined 750 soldiers.

The goal of expanding at the airport, Brig. Gen. Stephen Danner told SBJ in September, is to make the Springfield area a power projection platform, which serves as a launching point for troops and air personnel to respond to national emergencies such as earthquakes or large hurricanes.

The national guard will join Expedia Inc., which announced in February that it is leasing 59,000 square feet in the north end of the terminal. That lease, which is initially for five years with five, three-year extension options, is for a total rate of $7.64 annually per square foot, or $450,760 annually. Renovations of Expedia's portion of the building began last month.

Airport officials have repeatedly said that finding nonaviation revenue sources is extremely important for the long-term financial health of the facility, given the volatility of the air travel industry.[[In-content Ad]]