The lease, along with a property tax incentive package for Gulfstream, a division of General Dynamics, will go before the City Council for approval.
WESTFIELD – The three-member Barnes Regional Airport Commission Thursday approved a 50-year lease of nearly 11 acres of airport property to Gulfstream that will allow the company to expand operations here with a new $20 million service center for its largest corporate jet.
The lease is worth about $54,000 in annual revenue to the airport and includes five 10-year extensions. Cost of the lease will increase, based on market rates, every five years.
The lease, along with a property tax incentive package for Gulfstream, a division of General Dynamics, will go before the City Council for approval next week. Gulfstream representatives will join Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and city Advancement Officer Jeffrey R. Daley at a meeting with the City Council on Sept. 14.
Airport commissioners said the approval of the lease is based on retention and creation of jobs.
“We welcome Gulfstream. This will add to and enhance operations at the airport.,” said chairman Gary M. Francis.
“We look forward to Gulfstream’s expansion and it bringing its new GS650 corporate aircraft to Westfield,” added commissioner Joseph Mitchell.
Commissioner Kimberly Cameron noted “the expansion of this company is anticipated to bring an additional 100 jobs to the city and retain its existing 130 employees.”
Gulfstream has been operating on property it owns adjacent to Barnes on Elise Street. The company plans to create a new service center for maintenance and other services to its newest corporate jet on the 10.8 acres it will lease from the airport. The leased parcel abuts the company’s land on Elise Street.
Daley said lease terms provide for a future expansion of Gulfstream operations onto an additional adjacent 4.1 acres, and the parcel includes creation of a 2.4-acre retention pond.
Knapik and Daley have said Westfield faces competition for Gulfstream’s expansion from Wisconsin and Georgia.
The lease, because it exceeds 20 years, must be approved by the City Council, and the tax incentive package also needs City Council approval along with approval from the state’s Economic Development and Housing Department.
Details of the tax package are in negotiation but designed to provide Gulfstream up to a 50 percent reduction in property tax for the first 15 years of operation.
Gulfstream’s newest jet is undergoing Federal Aviation Administration certification and approval. Reportedly the jets sell for $65 million each.