Port Aransas South Jetty

New airport lease will mean more amenities

On the runway STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON A vintage airplane, a helicopter and other aircraft can be spotted landing and taking off at the Mustang Beach Airport, which serves as the municipal airport for Port Aransas. The city is currently renegotiating its lease with the General Land Office to allow it to develop hangars and other facilities to improve the airport's service to the pilots who use it when they come to Mustang Island. The Mustang Beach Airport could soon undergo a dramatic transformation if a lease agreement between Port Aransas and the Texas General Land Office is signed by the end of the year.

A renegotiated lease between the city and the GLOland office could mean that the airport would extend northward from its current boundary to include 26 acres that borders Sharkey's nightclub.

"For two years we've been working on this, and we're pretty close," said Michael Kovacs, city manager.

"The city has recently reached an agreement with the GLO that includes the entire airport property, and also property to the north that borders Sharkey's, which currently is not part of the existing airport property," Kovacs said.

"That would be for airport hangars, and half of the new property would be some development opportunity through a private/public partnership; possibly condos, a lot of different things," he said.

The idea was to get a spruced up municipal airport with little or no cost to the city.

Port Aransas has an agreement with Texas Aviation Partners of Austin to build new hangars and other improvements at the airport.

"The GLO is getting a major part of the profit share. We think it's a great deal, and we're pretty pleased about that," Kovacs said.

Steven Alexander of Texas Aviation Partners preferred to focus more on the airport itself than the possibility of condos and other mixed use development on the 26 additional acres of land.

"Our primary goal with the project is to meet the pent-up demand for aviation facilities. It would have all that you would imagine at a general aviation airport. There are very few facilities for the flying community at the airport, with no rental car facility, no pilot briefing area or a place to file a flight plan," Alexander said.

Alexander said much of what will be included in the airport's new look will come from input provided by more than 100 pilots who use the airport and who responded to a survey that is available online in the airport department of the city's Web site.

He said plans would include new bathrooms, a locker room with showers, rental cars, lodging information, a courtesy telephone and other amenities.

"Our initial goal is to meet the pent-up demand for structures, including hangars of various sizes, nested T-hangars and stand alone box hangars, and a significant additional amount of tie-down space to secure aircraft outside," Alexander said.

He said plans for new condos are premature.

"We just don't know yet, there are a lot of options on the table. Our goal is to meet the demand on the aviation side, then possibly look at additional development," Alexander said.

Whenever the ink dries on the lease agreement between Port Aransas and the GLO, Alexander said his company will launch an architectural, engineering, and building permit phase for Mustang Beach Airport.

"We've been ready for two years. It has been a long road working with the GLO and it has been a wonderful partnership with the City of Port Aransas. It will be a win/win situation, the city will get major improvements to the facilities at the airport at little or no expense," Alexander said.

"We hope to begin construction in sSpring 2009," he said.

Alexander said his company is still seeking input from aircraft pilots who use the airport.

"We are still taking input, it is of great value," he said. The Web page that holds a link to the airport survey can be found at http://www.cityofportaransas. org/airport.cfm.