Enhanced use lease will substantially benefit Air Force

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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFPN) --  The Air Force announced Aug. 17 the selection of Sunset Ridge Development Partners LLC as the highest ranked offeror for Phase 1 of the West Side Development Enhanced Use Lease, or EUL, project here.

Kathleen I. Ferguson, deputy Air Force Civil Engineer at the Pentagon, selected Sunset Ridge Development Partners LLC, which is a partnership formed by Woodbury Corporation of Salt Lake City, Utah, Hunt ELP Ltd., of El Paso, Texas, and Flintridge Partners LLC, of Irvine, Calif.

Now the Air Force will enter exclusive negotiations with the partnership who will propose a plan for the first phase of development that will cover about 100 to 150 acres of land on the western portion of the base. Sunset Ridge will work with Air Force officials at Hill Air Force Base to determine how it will finance, plan, design, construct and operate a development that could support offices, hotels, restaurants and retail space.

This project may ultimately encompass 550 acres adjacent to Interstate 15. When completed, it should result in substantial benefits for the Air Force by replacing up to 1.3 million square feet of aging office space. It will also increase tax revenues for nearby cities and counties, and significantly expand economic development in northern Utah. Upon completion, the West Side Development will be the largest project of its kind in the Air Force.

"We look forward to working with the developer and we're anxiously waiting to see the concept they have in mind for the land," said Brig. Gen. Kathleen Close, commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center. "We're also excited to work with the state of Utah, the Military Installation Development Authority and county and city officials to establish positive partnerships to make this project succeed."

The West Side Development project is a part of the Air Force's EUL program, authorized by statute, which allows leases of underutilized military land to private entities. While the Air Force will still own the land, the developer will own the facilities it builds. These projects allow developers to establish long-term relationships with private-sector and government entities with specific real estate needs who are potential occupants of the space.

"Enhanced use lease is a win-win situation," said Kathryn Halvorson, director of the Air Force Real Property Agency, the organization responsible for developing EUL projects. "It provides an opportunity for the Air Force to capitalize on underutilized assets, including real property, by leasing the land to private entities to address Air Force infrastructure requirements such as construction, repair, maintenance and improvement of facilities."

According to Bruce Evans, the Hill AFB Enhanced Use Lease program manager, "Hill chose the enhanced use lease approach as the most feasible way to replace antiquated facilities. The base hopes to receive most of its in-kind payment for the land in the form of new infrastructure."

The Air Force Real Property Agency is currently working on establishing EUL projects at other Air Force bases throughout the country. The first Air Force EUL project was in January 2006 at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, N.M., where the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology will build an educational and research facility as part of a larger facility called the Kirtland Technology Park. 

(Courtesy of 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, Air Force Materiel Command News Service)

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