{"id":45030,"date":"2019-10-11T12:15:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T16:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=45030"},"modified":"2019-10-11T12:15:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T16:15:42","slug":"airglades-airport-project-has-people-buzzing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/10\/airglades-airport-project-has-people-buzzing\/","title":{"rendered":"Airglades Airport Project has people buzzing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Airglades Airport, previously named Riddle Field, was\ninitially developed as a training facility for British pilots during World War\nII. From 1942 to 1945, over 1300 cadets were trained at Riddle Field. The\nfacility was decommissioned as a military facility in 1946, transferred to the\nState of Florida and then ultimately to Hendry County. Currently, Airglades\noperates as a general aviation facility and is home to a flight school and\nskydiving company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, Hendry County, Florida, the airport sponsor,\nrecognized the benefits that a major perishable air cargo complex at Airglades\nwould bring to the county and to the region. The FAA approved the County\u2019s\npreliminary application to enter the Airport Investment Partnership Program\n(AIPP) (formerly known as the Airport Privatization Pilot Program), which\nallows the County to work with private developers and negotiate a proposed\nagreement to privatize the airport. Based on that approval, the County is\nworking with a team of advisors to continue the process for developing the perishable\nair cargo complex and submitting a final AIPP application for FAA approval. The\nFAA provides further information on the AIPP program at the following site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, the FAA issued Hendry County a Finding of No\nSignificant Impact and Record of Decision for the project following a thorough\nEnvironmental Assessment. Hendry County expects to submit a Final Application\nto the AIPP program in 2019. Final\nDecision of the FAA 10\/3\/2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Airglades International Airport project has everyone\nabuzz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plans are to turn the municipal airport in Clewiston\ninto a commercial hub for perishable cargo like fruits, vegetables, fresh\nflowers and seafood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of partners called Florida Cargo Fresh, made up of\nAIA Inc., U.S. Sugar and the Hilliard Brothers, plan to replace the 5,000-foot\nrunway and expand it to more than 11,000 feet to accommodate large cargo\nplanes from South and Central America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An image of the proposed expansion project at Airglades Airport.\u00a0 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The estimated $650 million project, expected to be finalized\nby early 2019, may be just what Hendry needs to kick-start growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hendry has the highest unemployment rate in the state\nat 8.3 percent in August, compared to Lee at 3.7 percent and Collier\nat 4.2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Airglades project would create an estimated 1,500\njobs, much needed in a county with a poverty rate of 25.1 percent and a\nper capita income of $18,027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county has been taking steps to pave the way for the\nfuture by investing in and installing infrastructure like sidewalks,\nroads, and sewer and water lines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hendry County Commissioners also met recently to discuss a\nproposal that the county use a Florida\nRecreation Development Assistance Program <\/a>grant to create a sports\npark in LaBelle that would also draw more visitors to the county and drive\ngrowth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is now the right time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there is a lot of optimism for the future of Hendry\nCounty, there still exist some doubts that serious growth will happen any time\nsoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Hendry County is the future, but it\u2019s not on the\nradar today,\u201d Thibaut said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thibaut believes the airport project could be a\ngame-changer, but that it will be decades before developers fully embrace the\narea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the new trade port deal gets finalized and built,\nthen that\u2019s going to create some energy and opportunities,\u201d Thibaut said.\n\u201cHowever, I would not say the immediate future outside of that, that there is a\nsignificant demand or anything that\u2019s moving the dial specifically for permits\nin Hendry County for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to Lee and Collier counties, there has been little\nactivity with building permits in Hendry and, as a result, developers are\nunlikely to try to build in that market, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, Southwest Florida developers are flocking more\nto Lee County and places like Lehigh Acres and the North Fort Myers\narea because of affordability and availability of land and housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thibaut said these locations are more desirable because of\nthe ability to get on Interstate 75 and have a shorter commute while\nstill having shopping and retail opportunities that Hendry County doesn’t\noffer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although land is cheap in Hendry, there is a lack of\naffordable housing, which is a necessity if the county wants to increase\npopulation and develop rural lands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Airglades Airport, previously named Riddle Field, was initially developed as a training facility for British pilots during World War II. From 1942 to 1945, over 1300 cadets were trained at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}