Pad 10 Grading Began After Habersham Business Park Site Sale

Grading at Pad 10 in the Habersham Airport Business Park was underway by Oct. 12, 2023, after the site’s sale closed the previous month, according to an update delivered to the Habersham Airport Commission. Staff said the grading award had been made the prior week and work had begun, moving the project from a planned procurement into active earthwork.

The work matters because it readies a specific business-park pad for future use while connecting a land transaction directly to development costs. Commission minutes say the cash proceeds from the Pad 10 sale were designated for grading, making the earthwork the immediate follow-through on the sale rather than an unassigned future expense.

The sale closed Sept. 11, 2023, and the commission was told that bids or requests for proposals for rough grading would open Sept. 25. The planned selection formula put 60% of the weight on price and 40% on the proposed project-completion date. By the Oct. 12 commission meeting, staff reported that an award had been made and grading had started, a progression from financing and solicitation to field work.

The Airport Commission received the two updates, while staff described the sale, procurement and start of grading. The September minutes set out a competitive selection approach that favored both cost and speed; the October update described an award and work underway. Those minutes, however, do not identify the contractor or record a Commission or Development Authority vote approving a contract, so the account establishes the reported award but not the underlying contracting action.

Two milestones are documented: the Pad 10 sale closed Sept. 11 and staff reported on Oct. 12 that grading had been awarded and was underway. Staff projected completion within 90 days of the closing, or about Dec. 10, 2023, but that was a forecast, not proof the grading finished. The minutes do not establish whether the scope changed, whether the work was completed or what development followed at the pad.

The next meaningful public step would be a later Airport Commission or Development Authority action or update documenting construction progress, completion, an amendment, or a subsequent Pad 10 development decision. Until then, residents can confirm that work had begun in October 2023, but not whether the grading was finished or what became of the site afterward.