Boeing project at MidAmerica promises ‘significant’ revenue, jobs. Here’s what we know
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Boeing at MidAmerica Airport
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A planned expansion to Boeing’s defense operations at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport took another step forward with a new, long-term lease approved this week, but details on the project are still unclear.
The 20-year lease agreement between MidAmerica Airport and Boeing was unanimously approved by St. Clair County’s Public Building Commission, which oversees the county-owned airport, on Tuesday. It includes three 20-year renewal options which, if exercised, would make the defense contractor a tenant at MidAmerica for 80 years.
The 34-acre site will be developed for “various uses,” according to documents from the commission. That includes aerospace design, development, production, assembly, maintenance and some vehicle parking and storage.
Its promise includes “significant job creation,” economic development for the region and “significant revenue” to the county, according to a one-page synopsis of the project provided to the building commission.
But Boeing has been tight-lipped about the project since a pre-development agreement was struck in December, acknowledging only that an expansion of its operations is in the works at the airport.
“We have signed a lease at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, which is a follow-on to the pre-development agreement Boeing and the airport signed in December of 2020 related to potential expansion of Boeing’s existing operations,” said Kurt LaBelle, a representative with Boeing, in a statement. “Those operations currently include production and flight test activities for defense-related programs.
“We are not releasing additional details this time.”
In addition to the new revenue for the airport, the development promises to increase its operations and “reinforce” the airport’s relationship with Boeing, the synopsis states.
Members of the county building commission have referred additional questions about the development to Boeing.
The development will be located near Illinois Route 4, just south of the entrance to MidAmerica.
Airport Director Bryan Johnson said Boeing will pay $65,000 in rent in its first year as a tenant. After the first year of the lease, rent will rise to approximately $450,000 a year. He said all the revenue from the rent will be reinvested back into the airport.
“All of the revenue from the lease agreement will go back into the airport in either capital projects or operations and maintenance,” Johnson said.
Two additional parcels of land could be available for further expansion in the future, Johnson told the commission.
Johnson has previously estimated the project would take three to four years to complete. On Tuesday, he said the development had begun but couldn’t be more specific.
Boeing did not comment on its expected timeline of the proposed project.
The new development is one of the ongoing projects at the airport, which in September received a $6.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand its terminal by more than 41,000 square feet.
Last week, Boeing unveiled it’s new F-15QA fighter jet at its St. Louis. The contract includes logistics, maintenance support and pilot training, which has been underway at Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica since February.
A MetroLink extension from the Shiloh-Scott Station to MidAmerica is also in the works, funded by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois infrastructure plan. Roughly $96 million has been set aside for the project.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 11:08 AM.