Arizona-based Aviation Relocation International (ARI, Booth 2592) arrived at NBAA-BACE 2018 with news that it is representing Wingspan Business Investments in hangar/office development around the greater Phoenix area. ARI specializes in relocating professionals within the aviation industry. It bills itself as a concierge service and does not charge pilots or flight department employees for its assistance. The company’s principal, Tracy DuCharme, told AIN that ARI works in partnership with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and has relationships with several corporations.
“We serve companies as their in-house relocation partner for assisting their employees with moves, locally or nationally,” she explained. “We will give people as much information as they need for as many cities as they need when they're considering relocation, even finding out about schools or what the job market is like for spouses,” she said.
DuCharme, a realtor, is excited about Wingspan’s Chandler Airpark industrial hangars and office project, which is expected to bring as many as 300 jobs to the region. WingSpan Business Investments is an aviation development firm with offices in Tempe and Chandler, Arizona. “This project has the full backing of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in California, Nevada, and Arizona,” DuCharme said.
Phase 1, now under construction, covers five acres and includes four hangars with at least 100-by-100 feet of hangar floor and 8,000 sq ft of flexible office space attached.
Two of the four 17,800-sq-ft hangars from Phase 1 are owned by Strategic Land Group Enterprises. “Each is currently available for lease at market pricing,” said DuCharme. “We’re taking reservations for Phase 2, planned on 18 acres, and we’re in discussions with nearby Mesa Gateway airport, determining our strategy for leasing land there.”
The Phoenix Mesa Gateway airport, just 30 minutes from Chandler, is the site of the former Williams Air Force Base. Gateway has been designated as Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #221 and is expected to become a major cargo hub. Companies using the FTZ may have customs duties reduced, deferred, or eliminated, and the state of Arizona also offers reduced property taxes for companies located within the FTZ.