Habersham approves private airport-hangar leases, but construction remains unconfirmed

Habersham County Commission unanimously approved two 20-year ground leases July 15, 2024, allowing Charles Brammer Jr. and FBO Drive to build private hangars at Habersham County Airport. The leases cover two of four planned 60-by-60-foot sites, and commissioners directed that the other two sites be readvertised. The action is the latest confirmed step in the county’s effort to add hangar space, but the minutes do not show that either lease was signed or that construction began.

The arrangement would put the upfront cost of the buildings on the private lessees while giving the county a future ownership interest: officials said the hangars would revert to Habersham County after the 20-year terms. For airport users, the central question is whether the approved sites become usable hangar space. For taxpayers, the stakes include the county’s limited stated responsibility for electricity, possible site-preparation costs and whether projected rental, tax and fuel-sales revenue ever materializes.

The proposal grew from a May 2023 Airport Commission discussion of public-private hangar development, when officials cited 74 based aircraft and said two 10-unit T-hangars could increase that number to 94. By June, the commission was considering an RFP under which an interested party would build to airport-developed plans. It then explored a possible state funding request for site preparation, refined a four-site ground-lease concept and worked through proposal scoring and conflict safeguards. Review of the RFP and lease was tabled into early 2024 before officials discussed reissuing it in June with a 20-year, rather than 25-year, term.

County and airport officials framed the leases as a way to obtain privately financed hangars while the county’s stated cost would be running electricity to the sites. The July minutes describe an estimated combined $450,000 hangar value that would revert to the county at lease end, along with possible annual rent, tax and fuel-sales revenue. Prospective builders were expected to finance construction, and the commission had earlier discussed evaluating proposals on minimum monthly rent, financial plan, economic impact, qualifications, experience and capital investment. Officials also contemplated a separate scoring group because airport board members could submit proposals.

The county has approved the two leases and instructed that the remaining sites be readvertised; those are completed governmental actions. Private construction, county electrical work and eventual transfer of the hangars to county ownership are terms of the approved arrangement, not documented completed acts. The estimated $450,000 combined value and projected revenue are estimates recorded in the July minutes, not realized results. The public record also does not establish a construction start, completion, occupancy, lease payment or whether proposed Georgia Department of Transportation support for site preparation was requested or awarded.

The next public sign of movement would be a later Airport Commission or County Commission record showing that the leases were executed and identifying responsibility, funding and timing for paving, site preparation or electrical service. A new procurement notice or meeting action could also show whether the two unassigned sites are offered again or awarded. Until then, it remains undecided how many hangars will actually be built, when airport users could use them and whether any outside support will help prepare the sites.