Efforts to create a development buffer zone around Raytheon Missile Systems’ main local plant moved forward this week as the Tucson Airport Authority agreed to sell a key piece of land to Pima County.
The Airport Authority authorized the sale of a roughly 52-acre strip of land to the county for construction of the planned Aerospace Parkway south of Tucson International Airport.
The price is still under negotiation, and the sale is subject to approval of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Airport Authority said.
The land involved will essentially form the roadbed for a central segment of the planned four-lane Aerospace Parkway, which is a relocation of Hughes Access Road about a half-mile south of its current alignment at the southern edge of the Raytheon property.
The county is moving quickly on its plans. In a presentation to the Airport Authority board, Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the county hopes to complete construction of Aerospace Parkway by the end of 2015.
People are also reading…
“Things always take longer than you think, but we certainly have expedited the process to allow the county to complete the new road,” Airport Authority President and CEO Bonnie Allin said.
Allin said the parcel’s sale price will be based on “fair market value,” under FAA rules.
The airport and county are hoping the FAA will approve the deal by year’s end or early January, after approval of an environmental assessment for the parcel, she added.
A draft environmental assessment was issued last week, and after other agencies weigh in, the FAA will put a final assessment out for a 30-day public comment period, Allin said. Officials don’t believe there will be any significant environmental impacts that would halt the project or require a more detailed environmental impact statement, she said.
The airport land sale is one of several intertwining deals in a buffer-zone development plan that includes the parkway, a planned aerospace business and research park, and eventually, a corridor linking Interstates 10 and 19.
Local governments and business leaders have been working to widen the buffer around Raytheon’s airport facility — one of the world’s biggest missile factories — since the company passed up Tucson for Huntsville, Alabama, for the location of a new plant in 2010. The company cited a lack of buffered expansion space.
Raytheon, Southern Arizona’s biggest private employer with more than 9,000 local employees, has said it would consider future expansion here if it had more space.
Besides allowing for future potential expansion by Raytheon, the planned new parkway will pave the way for infrastructure improvements for the planned Aerospace, Defense and Technology Research and Business Park, airport officials said.
Funds must still be raised for development of the 2,500-acre park, which according to county documents would be built by 2020.
Aerospace Parkway also will form part of a planned highway connection between I-10 and I-19 south of the airport. The airport says that connection is key to further development of Southern Arizona as an international transportation and logistics hub in the so-called “Sonoran Corridor.”
Allin said the parkway project and related plans are critical to create jobs and boost the local economy, and they mesh with the Airport Authority’s long-term plans to boost the airport as a transportation hub.
“We’ve got some pretty ambitious plans with transportation and logistics as well,” she said.
Contact Assistant Business Editor David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 573-4181.
David Wichner
Reporter