Providing security for the jet
set
Firm plans to
build hangars for pricey planes.
By Jonathan D. Colburn
The Desert
Sun
December 1, 2003
PALM SPRINGS -- Owning a million-dollar
plane isn’t easy.
If it feels risky leaving a Lexus
parked on a city street, try leaving a 50-foot-long,
turbine-powered jet in an airport secured by nothing but
rope.
Michael Dunn, founder and owner of Aviation
Development Group LLC in Denver is selling peace of mind to
some of the Coachella Valley’s plane owners in the form of
3,600-square-foot box hangars to be built at the Palm Springs
International Airport.
"We’ve had a really good
response. We have two phases of eight hangars, and we’ve sold
six in the first phase and two in the second, and we don’t
even have final approval," Dunn said.
Right now, plane
owners who don’t tie down their crafts are mainly left only
with smaller T-hangars for storage options.
ADG’s
attraction to Palm Springs isn’t a mystery.
"Palm
Springs and Steamboat Springs (in Colorado) are both resort
communities," Dunn said. "They’re a pretty good demographic in
terms of income."
Dunn is planning a similar
development in Steamboat Springs, which like the valley has a
large number of high-income residents.
Dunn was a real
estate developer in Colorado for years, until he got his
private pilot’s license three years ago. His love for flying
prompted him to change careers.
John Stiles, who is
representing ADG in Palm Springs with Sperry Van Ness, said
he’s been sending post cards to more than 1,000 private plane
owners in Southern California, and has already received
several responses from interested buyers.
Small,
single-engine planes can cost up to $300,000 or $400,000,
according to Dunn, but larger turbine-powered planes, which
the box hangars are designed to house, can reach well over a
million dollars.
"It amounts to a fairly significant
investment to just leave it sitting out on a field," Dunn
said. "It causes a real security issue."
Jeff Heck,
area general manager for Signature Flight Support, which owns
the land that the hangars are to be built on, agreed that
security has become a higher priority over the last two
years.
"Ever since 9/11, the whole business has
changed," said Heck. "It’s not like the old days; security is
on everyone’s mind."
Heck added that he was happy to
have more construction looming at the airport, and that he
does see a need for more hangar space for larger private
jets.
Signature, he said, does not plan to build
hangars at any of its locations.
Palm Springs isn’t the
only city to be getting new hangars. Million Air, based in
Palm Springs, is planning its own development at the Desert
Resorts Regional Airport in Thermal, called the La Quinta Jet
Center.
Some of the hangars in Thermal will be slightly
bigger, ranging from 60 feet by 60 feet, the size of the ADG
hangars, to 90 feet by 80 feet. Million Air and ADG are
reporting the same price for their 60 by 60 hangars, and they
can be bought at either location for $216,000. The larger
hangars in Thermal are selling for $432,000.
Dunn said
ADG hangars can be customized to a client’s needs. For
instance, they can include a bathroom or office
space.
Both airports are positioned close to golf
courses and resort communities, and each company could
capitalize on the valley’s wealthy snowbirds’ dreams of
convenience.
Jonathan D. Colburn covers growth and
development for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at 778-4643
or by
.
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