Len Lanetti
Cleared for Takeoff
The attached article doesn't sound good.
Len
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2005/05/09/cincinnati_story1.html
Suitor pursues Blue Ash Airport
Officials won't name buyer for prime property
Dan Monk Courier Senior Staff Reporter
Published: May 9, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------
The city of Cincinnati is reviewing a purchase offer for Blue Ash
Airport, an asset that could be worth more than $30 million.
City spokeswoman Meg Olberding said an unsolicited, written offer
recently was received for the 226-acre property, which the city has
talked about selling for more than a decade.
The city has owned the Blue Ash property since the 1950s, when it bought
roughly 1,500 acres as a potential site for a new international airport.
After Northern Kentucky emerged as the region's airport site, the city
sold off most of its Blue Ash land in the 1970s.
The last time the city entertained the sale of the airport, it sought
more than $30 million, a figure that is in line with land sales in the
area during the last six years, said Scott Glaser, vice president for
Kenwood-based Property Advisors Corp.
Olberding wouldn't release details about the offer or a copy of the bid
document, saying the potential buyer has asserted a "trade secret"
exemption under Ohio's public records law. The city identified the
potential buyer's attorney as real estate attorney Joe Trauth, whose
clients include many of Cincinnati's major development companies. Trauth
did not return the Courier's calls.
The city of Blue Ash tried to buy the airport several times between 1993
and 2001, but it is not a bidder now, said Blue Ash City Manager Marvin
Thompson. In 2001, Thompson called the city's asking price "ludicrous."
He said Blue Ash hasn't made an offer for the property since then.
"There have been many, many developers who have expressed interest in
that property over the years and still express interest in it. It's a
hot piece of property," Thompson said. "If the rule is location,
location, location, then it hits all three."
The site is coveted because it's in the middle of the region's
second-largest office market, which is showing signs of a recovery after
several years of high vacancy. It also has few of the traffic problems
associated with faster-growing sections of Warren County.
"I still think Blue Ash is the best submarket in the city for office,"
said Duke Realty Corp. Senior Vice President Kevin Rogus. "If you happen
to be a residential developer, there's opportunities for multifamily,
which would do well there, even retail."
Cincinnati's options at the site had been limited by the terms of a 1983
grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that required the city to
continue operating an airport there until 2003.
Now, Thompson said, the city could "shut the airport down and the FAA
could not stop them from doing it." In 1999, Blue Ash adopted a master
plan that called for reconfiguring the airport so it fits on 120 acres.
The plan also calls for a new city park and a 90-acre office park on
Reed Hartman Highway.
Cincinnati's current policy on the airport is "to evaluate our options,"
said Olberding. She said there's no timeframe for that evaluation.
Cincinnati City Council authorized Mayor Charlie Luken to "open
negotiations" on the possible sale. During the budget process in
December, five members of council signed a motion calling for the city
to "relinquish ownership of the Blue Ash Airport for a reasonable price
and ... invest the money in neighborhoods."
Rogus said if the land was made available, Duke would be eager to take a
look at it.
"I always assumed there would be a public process involved," he said.
Copyright(c) American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
You can view this article on the web at:
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2005/05/09/cincinnati_story1.html
Len
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2005/05/09/cincinnati_story1.html
Suitor pursues Blue Ash Airport
Officials won't name buyer for prime property
Dan Monk Courier Senior Staff Reporter
Published: May 9, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------
The city of Cincinnati is reviewing a purchase offer for Blue Ash
Airport, an asset that could be worth more than $30 million.
City spokeswoman Meg Olberding said an unsolicited, written offer
recently was received for the 226-acre property, which the city has
talked about selling for more than a decade.
The city has owned the Blue Ash property since the 1950s, when it bought
roughly 1,500 acres as a potential site for a new international airport.
After Northern Kentucky emerged as the region's airport site, the city
sold off most of its Blue Ash land in the 1970s.
The last time the city entertained the sale of the airport, it sought
more than $30 million, a figure that is in line with land sales in the
area during the last six years, said Scott Glaser, vice president for
Kenwood-based Property Advisors Corp.
Olberding wouldn't release details about the offer or a copy of the bid
document, saying the potential buyer has asserted a "trade secret"
exemption under Ohio's public records law. The city identified the
potential buyer's attorney as real estate attorney Joe Trauth, whose
clients include many of Cincinnati's major development companies. Trauth
did not return the Courier's calls.
The city of Blue Ash tried to buy the airport several times between 1993
and 2001, but it is not a bidder now, said Blue Ash City Manager Marvin
Thompson. In 2001, Thompson called the city's asking price "ludicrous."
He said Blue Ash hasn't made an offer for the property since then.
"There have been many, many developers who have expressed interest in
that property over the years and still express interest in it. It's a
hot piece of property," Thompson said. "If the rule is location,
location, location, then it hits all three."
The site is coveted because it's in the middle of the region's
second-largest office market, which is showing signs of a recovery after
several years of high vacancy. It also has few of the traffic problems
associated with faster-growing sections of Warren County.
"I still think Blue Ash is the best submarket in the city for office,"
said Duke Realty Corp. Senior Vice President Kevin Rogus. "If you happen
to be a residential developer, there's opportunities for multifamily,
which would do well there, even retail."
Cincinnati's options at the site had been limited by the terms of a 1983
grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that required the city to
continue operating an airport there until 2003.
Now, Thompson said, the city could "shut the airport down and the FAA
could not stop them from doing it." In 1999, Blue Ash adopted a master
plan that called for reconfiguring the airport so it fits on 120 acres.
The plan also calls for a new city park and a 90-acre office park on
Reed Hartman Highway.
Cincinnati's current policy on the airport is "to evaluate our options,"
said Olberding. She said there's no timeframe for that evaluation.
Cincinnati City Council authorized Mayor Charlie Luken to "open
negotiations" on the possible sale. During the budget process in
December, five members of council signed a motion calling for the city
to "relinquish ownership of the Blue Ash Airport for a reasonable price
and ... invest the money in neighborhoods."
Rogus said if the land was made available, Duke would be eager to take a
look at it.
"I always assumed there would be a public process involved," he said.
Copyright(c) American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
You can view this article on the web at:
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2005/05/09/cincinnati_story1.html
