$10M Air Cargo Facility Is Planned for Stewart

NEWBURGH, NY-Just 10 days after announcing a plan to grow its hangar facilities here, Stewart International Airport reports that a local developer plans to expand the air cargo operations at the airport. AIR-CAR-GO Realty LLC has signed a long-term lease for approximately 15 acres of land at the airport's northeast cargo ramp.

RAC Associates of Goshen, which is headed by local developer Robert Carchietta, will be the developer of the cargo expansion project that calls for the construction of a new 112,500-sf facility. RAC officials say that the firm is in negotiations with a number of tenants for almost all of the space at the building. However, Carchietta would not identify any of the prospective tenants when questioned by GlobeSt.com. He did project that the cargo facility will cost between $9 million to $10 million to complete.

Carchietta, who is also working on a plan to develop a SUNY-Orange campus on property he owns in Newburgh, says the lease deal with the New York State Department of Transportation is for 35 years with two 10-year renewal options. He hopes to obtain all approvals so that he can begin construction soon. "I'd like to begin construction sometime in November," he says. "That's our game plan at the moment."

Commenting on the land lease transaction, Carchietta notes, "This is the culmination of over three years effort to develop business situations that are beneficial to Orange County, Newburgh, and Stewart International Airport. RAC Associates share a vision of Stewart International Airport taking its place as New York's fourth major airport with many of our clients."

Airport officials say the deal came about through the combined efforts of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency, which will likely offer RAC Associates some tax breaks in connection with the project, the Empire State Development Corp., the airport and RAC Associates.

Charles Seliga, Stewart International Airport president and COO, says of the deal, "We have been planning for a long time to build a cargo facility at this location; we took a risk when we first poured the two pads and installed the entire infrastructure. That risk is now paying off big time for the airport, and for the community. This new facility will bring in new business to Stewart, new jobs and new revenue into the Newburgh and Orange County community."

The current cargo pad site can park up to two 747 jets, and the airport plans to add one additional 747 pad. The pads to park large aircraft are constructed on a stone base with six inches of aircraft rated blacktop and then 15 inches of reinforced high-strength concrete. They can accommodate smaller aircraft as well as allowing multiple uses by a variety of different tenants, airport officials say.