This month the Reading Regional Airport Authority (RRAA) broke ground on a new 15,000 SF Corporate Hangar, a project over a year in the making. Expected to be completed in Q1 2027, this was a project several years in the making for the RRAA and in which BerksIDA has played a supporting role for nearly a year.
For BerksIDA, it started nearly a year ago at the annual board retreat, where RRAA Executive Director Zack Tempesco came to discuss the Airport Authority’s growth goals and see if the IDA had any ability to help. BerksIDA saw RRAAs growth goals as an opportunity for economic development in Berks County, and since then has been working with the Airport Authority to develop a financing profile that will allow the project to succeed.
RRAA and BerksIDA both played to their strengths to make this project a reality. RRAA manages all the design, contracts, and compliance with FAA and other regulations in and during the engineering and construction phases of construction. BerksIDA focused on market research for revenue calculations and finding a financing structure that would fill the ~$2M in outside funding necessary. This was a challenge due to the unique structure of airport property, which requires the RRAA maintain land ownership. This structure only allows for long-term ground leases, which means the building and corresponding length of the lease is the only pledged security when using debt financing.
For this hangar, BerksIDA and the RRAA turned to the internally created Infrastructure Loan Fund. The program flexibility and timing worked perfectly to fill the gap to start construction this spring.
If you or someone you know could take advantage of the Infrastructure Loan Fund or similar services to what BerksIDA provided the RRAA, get in touch with us today by emailing ida@berksida.com or calling 610-478-6330.