Legislators weigh purchase of old St. George airport

Utah state government may become owner of some 200 acres of the best, undeveloped residential land in southern Utah — the old St. George airport.

House GOP leaders met privately Thursday to learn about the difficulties that St. George city is having in building a new airport southeast of the downtown area, and how to "sell" the old airport, which now sits on a beautiful mesa right in the middle of St. George, Bloomington and Santa Clara, some of the fastest-growing areas of the state.

The city needs to sell the land under the old airport to raise money to finish buying the land needed for the new airport. City officials will open bids Feb. 4 from private developers on the redevelopment.

"There is a lot of interest (in the old airport site)," said St. George public works director Larry Bulloch. "That is a very important day to us. We now have the Letter of Intent from the FAA for $90 million and this bid is the next most critical issue."

The problem is a question of timing, said House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, and House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara.

"We are talking about keeping viable an airport in one of the most economically growing and vital" areas of the state, said Clark.

Clark, a banker, explains the problem this way: Any developer who bids on the old airport land must take into consideration that he won't get use of that land for four or five years — the time it will take to complete the new airport and vacate the old.

St. George and southwestern Utah can't do without an airport so the old airport must be kept running until the new one is finished.

"The conundrum is that we need the money now, but we can't deed the property now," Bulloch said.

Thus, it is unlikely that any private developer can pay the whole appraised value of the old airport's 200 acres — $42 million to $46 million.

"He would have to discount the price he paid" because he's tying up capital for such a long time before the land can be subdivided and lots sold -->, Clark said.

That's where the Legislature may come in. The state buying all or part of the old airport is only one suggestion — but it is one that makes some good sense for southern Utah, legislators were saying Thursday.

"It would be another option available to us," Bulloch said. "This bid will serve at least one purpose. It will provide solid information about what the land's value is."