CRESTVIEW — A Pensacola developer has plans to build a giant hangar at Bob Sikes Airport in hopes of attracting an aerospace company to the area.
Dan Gilmore, the owner of RONDAN Investments, will lease land from the county to build a 137,000-square-foot hangar on John Givens Road.
“There’s a nationwide shortage of hangar space in the United States,” said Gilmore, adding that he is “dead certain” an aerospace company will lease the hangar.
He said he is currently talking with multiple aerospace companies about using the facility.
Gilmore said he could have built the hangar in Alabama or Mississippi but chose Crestview because he was impressed with the airport’s major improvements and the professionalism of director Greg Donovan and his staff.
“He really knows what he’s doing,” Gilmore said of Donovan.
Under his 30-year lease with the county, Gilmore will pay the county an annual payment of $41,250. After the hangar is completed, the annual lease payment will be abated for three years.
Gilmore said he is confident the hangar will result in future jobs for Okaloosa County.
Mike Stenson, deputy airport director, said the need for hangars is critical.
“I get calls all the time from very large aerospace companies who are interested in having a presence at Bob Sikes Airport, and the number one question they ask is, ‘Do you have any available hangar space?’ ” he said. “Invariably, the answer is no.”
Stenson said the building Gilmore plans to build includes 67,000 square feet of hangar space, with the remaining 70,000 square feet for offices, employee parking and other uses.
“It’s a big hangar,” Stenson said. “You can put three C-130s into it at one time.”
He said the hangar project is “a huge deal for the county” and sends an important message to the aerospace industry.
“There’s plenty of room for continued growth at Bob Sikes Airport,” Stenson said. “We’ve created the ideal environment and place for aerospace companies to thrive.”
Gilmore said he would like to start construction on the hangar within the next 120 days. The project would take about nine months to complete.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
