The leadership at Yampa Valley Regional Airport, a Routt County department, is working to do its part to create middle-income jobs, bring more businesses to the valley and support the operational sustainability of the airport.

Airport Director Kevin Booth explained the airport has leased the first 2.7 acres of almost 30 acres of county-purchased land located northeast of the airport next to the existing Atlantic Aviation operation. Centennial-based aviation real estate development, marketing and consulting company Business Aviation Group has leased the 2.7 acres and plans to break ground at the end of June on a project called AeroHDN, said development partner Barry Sherman, a part-time Steamboat Springs resident.

This first phase of the aviation business park project will include a total 56,000 square feet of hangar space. The project includes one larger corporate hangar at 28,400 square feet and seven smaller hangars sized from 3,600 to 4,800 square feet. Sherman said the hangars will be configured to accept rooftop solar panels and will not be served by natural gas.

BA Group has secured three tenants so far from Steamboat Springs for the planned eight hangars. Sherman said the need for the hangars is readily apparent in February and March during the busy ski season when up to 29 airplanes may sit outside at Yampa Valley Regional Airport. Some pilots may drop off airplane owners in Steamboat for a ski trip, then fly back or “reposition” to the plane’s home base and then fly back to pick up the vacationers, Sherman said.

“A lot of people today do not leave their aircraft here in Hayden because there is not enough hangar space,” Sherman said. “For operational and maintenance reasons, you do what you can to keep the aircraft out of the weather.”

Work on the new corporate or private airplane hangars should be completed by summer 2025, Sherman said, and the BA Group hopes to win the request for proposal process to develop up to 27 additional acres. Phase two construction could then start in summer 2025, Sherman said, and include space for an MRO, or Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul center.

Booth said request for proposals for phase two should be issued this summer, and the buildout of the second phase could take up to 10 years. Airport leadership and developers hope to attract aviation-related businesses such as airplane mechanics, charter flight operations, or businesses that paint, apply slipstream coating to planes or update plane interiors.

Attracting an airplane mechanic to operate from within the regional airport near Hayden is a huge goal for Booth because currently mechanics must travel from outside of Hayden when needed. That may delay airport flight operations, which now include six airlines during the busy winter ski season.

“The airlines are very excited for anything we can do to get aircraft mechanics stationed at the airport,” Booth said.

Booth noted the airport made a significant investment of approximately $1.5 million to prepare for the aviation park development. The airport paid to reroute a county road that was completed in November and to install security and wildlife fencing around the new area. The airport will pay Yampa Valley Electric Association to reroute powerlines this summer.

“We anticipate continued growth on both the private and commercial airport side and this will just enhance the attractiveness of the airport and enhance operations of the airport,” Booth said.

Future plans include doubling the size of the airport terminal, but funding in not yet in place for that expansion work. So, the airport terminal expansion would start no sooner than 2026, Booth said.