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County officials are planning to expand General Mitchell International Airport by creating a third major runway. The expansion would come on land once used by the sprawling former base of the Air Force Reserve’s 440th Airlift Wing, which occupied 102 acres on the southwestern corner of the airport.

The base officially became Milwaukee County property on Monday at no cost to local taxpayers thanks to a Federal Aviation Administration program allowing for the free transfer of federal airport land for public use. The transfer brings with it a wide array of buildings ranging from offices and storage facilities to an indoor firing range, a gymnasium and a variety of workshops.

the 440th Airlift Wing base as seen from the sky

In all, the leasable facilities, as determined in a 2008 study by a joint city and county redevelopment authority, total about 350,000 square feet. But the Airport Master Plan, which calls for construction of a third major runway running southwest to northeast across the airport, would require the demolition of about 200,000 of those square feet – or 19 of the base’s 50 leasable buildings.

The runway expansion depends upon flight traffic levels, according to County Supervisor Chris Larson, who represents the area. Current projections place its construction in 2018. “It’s an inevitability,” he says, though temporary factors slowing air traffic, such as the economic recession, have delayed the expansion. Still, Larson is optimistic the property will be attractive to the aircraft-related businesses. “It’s prime real estate,” he says.

County Executive Scott Walker agrees. “We have great hopes for the area,” he says, calling the base a “great focal point” for development. “We have one of the fastest growing airports in America,” he adds.

the proposed runway expansion, as depicted by the redevelopment authority (click to enlarge)

Maintenance costs for unleased buildings, according to 2008 plans, will be funded by airport revenue. “Thus, the county will not need to budget additional funding for the property, resulting in no impact to county taxpayers,” the plans say.

The federal government’s decision in 2005 to close the base resulted in the loss of about 300 jobs when the 440th, a unit specializing in airlifting troops and cargo, moved to North Carolina. A year later, the city and county formed the redevelopment authority to make plans for the base. In 2008, the authority agreed to acquire the property for free from the FAA, with the understanding that any future uses of the property must be aviation-related.

The expansion of aviation-related businesses in the area would dovetail with an initiative underway in the area to turn the airport into an “Aerotropolis,” a kind of hub for commerce and tourism. “It’s excellent to tie into the Aerotropolis concept to have logistical companies locate there,” says Tom Rave, executive director of Gateway to Milwaukee, the airport development group leading the formation of the nonprofit Gateway Aerotropolis Corp.

Passenger flights at the airport have grown significantly in recent years. In the first five months of 2005, just short of 3 million passengers got on or off planes at the airport. By 2010, the figure had grown to about 3.9 million. Air freight, however, remains depressed amidst the recession. In the first five months of 2005, the airport saw 77.5 million pounds of air freight. By 2010, the figure had dropped to 68.8 million.

So far, only the Hunger Task Force and an Air National Guard firefighting unit have approached the county about leasing buildings on the old Air Force base. The Milwaukee food bank is asking to use the base’s former supply warehouse (56,130 square feet) at no cost. The agreement would last until the building is demolished to make way for the new runway.

The firefighting unit, part of the 128th Air National Guard, is asking to remain at the base, where it would continue to occupy the fire station there and put out fires at the airport, if needed. Like the Hunger Task Force, the unit is asking for a no-cost lease.

On Thursday, the county board is scheduled to consider both agreements, which were approved by the Committee on Transportation, Public Works and Transit earlier this month.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering once told the redevelopment authority it might be interested in renting five buildings totaling 26,438 square feet for use by its Fluid Power Institute, which contracts with the military for technology used in large vehicles, but the plans have lost some of their momentum, partly due to the impending runway expansion.

“We kind of lost our interest in it, but it’s not impossible now,” says Tom Bray, dean of applied research. “For us to try to get a lease on a building that’s going to eventually be torn down would probably not suit us.”

The expansion would also lead to the purchase and demolition of about 60 homes in a neighborhood to the southwest of the airport. When plans to build the new runway were first announced in the early 1990s, there was some controversy. Larson says many objectors have moved out of the neighborhood and the remaining residents are prepared for the expansion if it comes. “They know their neighborhood has an expiration date,” he says.

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