Richmond International Airport may expand its footprint with the purchase of 161 acres.
Note: This story has been updated with comments from Gumenick Properties CFO Jim Wilvert received after publication.
The governing body for Richmond International Airport is looking to expand the airport’s footprint for the first time in two decades.
The Capital Region Airport Commission has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for two parcels totaling 161 acres at 6101 and 6201 Beulah Road, according to a resolution that went before the commission at its Nov. 30 meeting.
The parcels are adjacent to the airport’s southeastern corner and would extend its property line to a stretch of Interstate 295, just north of the railroad tracks that run along the airport’s southern border.
The agreement, dated Oct. 27, is with Sandston Development of Virginia LLC, per the resolution. The LLC, tied to Richmond-based Gumenick Properties, has owned the parcels since 2008, according to Henrico County property records.
The county most recently assessed the parcels at $965,900 combined.
RIC spokesman Troy Bell said the commission is in the midst of a due diligence phase and that an acquisition of the property “is not a certainty.”
“If the Airport Commission proceeds with the purchase, the parcel complements the existing portfolio of properties on the airport’s east side,” Bell said in an email. He did not specify potential uses for the property.
The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy of Todd Wright/RIC)
The purchase agreement is mentioned in a resolution granting authority to CEO Perry Miller and the commission’s executive committee to make business decisions on the commission’s behalf through its next scheduled meeting in late January. Such authority has previously been granted this time of year because the commission does not hold regular meetings in December.
Any actions by Miller and the committee are subject to review and approval by the commission at its Jan. 25 meeting or an earlier, specially called meeting, the resolution notes.
Sandston Development of Virginia lists as its principal office the same Libbie Mill Midtown address as Gumenick Properties, which developed and is based at the mixed-use community in western Henrico.
Gumenick CFO Jim Wilvert said the property has been under the Gumenick family’s ownership for decades. He said the airport made an offer on the property when its latest listing attracted interest from other parties.
“We put it on the market probably five times in the last 20 years and have never received an offer that we liked,” Wilvert said. “The airport has expressed an interest in it, just because it’s adjacent to the airport, for a long time.
“In the past, we haven’t really gotten a significant amount of interest in it, and this time we got a lot of interest, so the airport stepped up and gave us an offer.”
Wilvert said he anticipates the deal to close early next year.
The Beulah Road site is adjacent to a 53-acre parcel at 5900 La France Road that the commission purchased in 1994 for $250,000. Bell said the Beulah Road property would be the commission’s first acquisition of comparable land since it purchased 144 acres in 1999.
That land is now part of the more than 2,000 acres that make up RIC. According to its website, the airport has more than 300 developable acres that it owns and maintains, while a 2012 master plan update forecasted “significant room for expansion well beyond the 20-year planning period.”
The resolution also authorized actions relating to development of airport property by Dulles-based Aviation Facilities Company Management, or AFCO, which the commission selected in October to lease and develop cargo-related facilities on about 8 acres of the airport. The award followed a 2019 request for lease and development proposals for land adjacent to the airport’s East Side Apron No. 1.
An Amazon Air cargo plane at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy of RIC)
A nearly 20-year tenant at RIC, AFCO has previously developed aeronautical facilities at the airport, including facilities currently used for Amazon’s air cargo operations. The online retailer, which is developing a robotics fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway, launched air support operations at RIC last year.
AFCO’s latest project is to consist of facilities supporting cargo transfer, logistics or air cargo operations. Over the course of the pandemic, RIC has reported record cargo traffic, reaching nearly 160 million pounds in 2020, a year-over-year jump of nearly 14 percent. The airport reported more than 180 million pounds handled over fiscal year 2021, the 12-month period that ended in June.
Richmond International Airport may expand its footprint with the purchase of 161 acres.
Note: This story has been updated with comments from Gumenick Properties CFO Jim Wilvert received after publication.
The governing body for Richmond International Airport is looking to expand the airport’s footprint for the first time in two decades.
The Capital Region Airport Commission has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for two parcels totaling 161 acres at 6101 and 6201 Beulah Road, according to a resolution that went before the commission at its Nov. 30 meeting.
The parcels are adjacent to the airport’s southeastern corner and would extend its property line to a stretch of Interstate 295, just north of the railroad tracks that run along the airport’s southern border.
The agreement, dated Oct. 27, is with Sandston Development of Virginia LLC, per the resolution. The LLC, tied to Richmond-based Gumenick Properties, has owned the parcels since 2008, according to Henrico County property records.
The county most recently assessed the parcels at $965,900 combined.
RIC spokesman Troy Bell said the commission is in the midst of a due diligence phase and that an acquisition of the property “is not a certainty.”
“If the Airport Commission proceeds with the purchase, the parcel complements the existing portfolio of properties on the airport’s east side,” Bell said in an email. He did not specify potential uses for the property.
The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy of Todd Wright/RIC)
The purchase agreement is mentioned in a resolution granting authority to CEO Perry Miller and the commission’s executive committee to make business decisions on the commission’s behalf through its next scheduled meeting in late January. Such authority has previously been granted this time of year because the commission does not hold regular meetings in December.
Any actions by Miller and the committee are subject to review and approval by the commission at its Jan. 25 meeting or an earlier, specially called meeting, the resolution notes.
Sandston Development of Virginia lists as its principal office the same Libbie Mill Midtown address as Gumenick Properties, which developed and is based at the mixed-use community in western Henrico.
Gumenick CFO Jim Wilvert said the property has been under the Gumenick family’s ownership for decades. He said the airport made an offer on the property when its latest listing attracted interest from other parties.
“We put it on the market probably five times in the last 20 years and have never received an offer that we liked,” Wilvert said. “The airport has expressed an interest in it, just because it’s adjacent to the airport, for a long time.
“In the past, we haven’t really gotten a significant amount of interest in it, and this time we got a lot of interest, so the airport stepped up and gave us an offer.”
Wilvert said he anticipates the deal to close early next year.
The Beulah Road site is adjacent to a 53-acre parcel at 5900 La France Road that the commission purchased in 1994 for $250,000. Bell said the Beulah Road property would be the commission’s first acquisition of comparable land since it purchased 144 acres in 1999.
That land is now part of the more than 2,000 acres that make up RIC. According to its website, the airport has more than 300 developable acres that it owns and maintains, while a 2012 master plan update forecasted “significant room for expansion well beyond the 20-year planning period.”
The resolution also authorized actions relating to development of airport property by Dulles-based Aviation Facilities Company Management, or AFCO, which the commission selected in October to lease and develop cargo-related facilities on about 8 acres of the airport. The award followed a 2019 request for lease and development proposals for land adjacent to the airport’s East Side Apron No. 1.
An Amazon Air cargo plane at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy of RIC)
A nearly 20-year tenant at RIC, AFCO has previously developed aeronautical facilities at the airport, including facilities currently used for Amazon’s air cargo operations. The online retailer, which is developing a robotics fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway, launched air support operations at RIC last year.
AFCO’s latest project is to consist of facilities supporting cargo transfer, logistics or air cargo operations. Over the course of the pandemic, RIC has reported record cargo traffic, reaching nearly 160 million pounds in 2020, a year-over-year jump of nearly 14 percent. The airport reported more than 180 million pounds handled over fiscal year 2021, the 12-month period that ended in June.
Authority didn’t disclose plans and you didn’t ask?
Has the port seen a similar increase in freight?