Cape airport manager hopes hangar deal pans out soon

The city of Cape Girardeau is receiving interest in a hangar at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport that once housed two failed aviation companies.

“We’re still trying to fill it,” Bruce Loy, airport manager, said of the 52,000-square-foot facility. “We have some things we hope will pan out over the next couple of months, but I don’t have a lease to show you yet.”

A deal may be brewing, but the city and the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce continue to market the property aggressively.

Airplanes are seen being stored in the 52,000 square foot hanger that formally housed Commander premiere Airport Corp. on Thursday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com

According to chamber president John Mehner, the hangar space is being advertised nationally through the real-estate database Location One, direct-marketing efforts and Missouri Partnership.

But, Mehner said, they also are looking to further their reach.

“We are currently investigating and maybe getting close to doing a deal with a commercial broker that has international reach, that works more closely with aviation-related industries,” he said.

“We’ll look at any and all offers — whatever’s best for the taxpayer,” city manager Scott Meyer said.

Though the eviction of Commander Premiere Airport Corp. has left the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport with a hangar and no tenant, the space is not going to waste.

Loy said the airport is currently using the facility to store airplanes and other materials, and the airport continues to find other uses.

Airplanes are seen being stored in the 52,000 square foot hanger that formally housed Commander premiere Airport Corp. on Thursday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com

The options regarding to whom who the city will lease or sell the property is much broader now than with past searches.

The city sold bonds in 2001 to build the hangar, which limited the type of business that could occupy the space.

“When the bonds were paid off, we got rid of the stipulation that it had to be an airplane manufacturer to lease the building. Now it just has to be an aviation-related business,” Loy said.

“There are a lot of industries related to rehabilitation of airplanes, rebuilding airplanes, parts distribution for the aviation industry. Those things that would be an advantage to having it on the airport grounds, but wouldn’t be directly related to manufacturing airplanes,” Mehner said.

History of problems

Issues with the hangar began in 2001, when Renaissance Aircraft relocated to Cape Girardeau with promises of creating at least 200 new jobs and manufacturing hundreds of planes each year.

The city sold $2.6 million in bonds to construct the hangar for Renaissance and extend water and sewer lines to accommodate the business.

The company quickly experienced financial hardship and was plagued by litigation. Renaissance Aircraft eventually was evicted and moved out in 2004.

In 2005, Commander Premiere Airport Corp. moved into the vacant space, announced plans to hire 100 people within three years to build single-engine airplanes to sell for $600,000 each.

The company began business at the airport in 2005 but never produced any aircraft. The business was evicted in 2011, after nearly four years without rent payments. After lengthy bankruptcy hearings, Commander moved out of the hangar in 2014.

Ideal tenant

When Commander left the hangar, city officials were reluctant to lease the building again.

They still are.

Although a lease option is still on the table, Meyer said he would prefer a sale.

“It depends on what type of business comes forward, what their strategic plan is, what their business plan looks like, how well-capitalized they are, as far as considering a lease or a different way of selling the building,” he said.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

860 Limbaugh Drive, Scott City, Mo.