State opens comment on UPS lease supplement covering 1.25M square feet at Anchorage airport

United Parcel Service's cargo footprint at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, about 1,246,000 square feet on the airport's Block 27, would rent for $224,280 a year under a lease supplement the state opened for public comment Thursday.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is proposing the supplement to lease ADA-30816, a 35-year lease that began Oct. 1, 1997, and runs through Sept. 30, 2032. A supplement modifies an existing lease rather than creating a new one. The rate works out to 18 cents per square foot, the same rate the state proposed for other cargo ground at the airport, including a 2019 land lease application with Alaska CargoPort LLC for roughly 1,350,000 square feet on the same block to support UPS flight operations. That 2019 filing was a proposed lease open for comment and competing applications. The available record does not show the state ever executed it.

Authorized uses under the lease include construction and operation of an air cargo facility, air cargo transfer, short term air freight build-up and break down, aircraft parking and maintenance, selling and dispensing aviation fuel and lubricants, ground handling, aircraft de-icing and office support.

ANC handles more than 180 widebody operations daily. At a Feb. 20 focus group on the state's Long Range Transportation Plan, airport planner Ian Moore said e-commerce growth is reinforcing that role. "The growing global e-commerce and time-sensitive deliveries are reinforcing Alaska's role, especially at ANC, as a critical global cargo hub," he said.

That growth has drawn scrutiny from neighborhoods near the airport. Alaska News previously covered ANC's Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study, which is developing mitigation options after February meetings drew residents concerned about aircraft noise. Industry guidance from Airports Council International, North America, notes that "traditional air cargo moves at night and potentially has higher noise impacts in residential areas than do daytime operations." A state budget narrative for the Alaska International Airport System documents the scale of cargo development interest at ANC, reporting three applications for air cargo development on Block 27 north of Alaska CargoPort: Alaska Cargo and Cold Storage on about 26 acres, FedEx on about 24 acres and 6A Aviation on about 28 acres.

Written comments go to Andy Dinsmore at the airport Leasing Office, Room C3980 on the third floor of the South Terminal, 5000 W. International Airport Road, by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5. Comments may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to P.O. Box 196960, Anchorage, Alaska, 99519-6960. The department will then decide whether to execute the supplement.