Prop Park Lease Agreement Before Airport Commission

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners is scheduled to vote Aug. 15 on a lease agreement for the new piston aircraft area at Van Nuys Airport. The Park at Van Nuys will take up 30 acres formerly occupied by the Air National Guard. The project will have hangar space for 265 propeller aircraft and a terminal building with a restaurant, executive offices, a conference room and an observation patio. The lease between Pacific Aviation Development, the developer, and Los Angeles World Airports would generate $247,188 in the first year with an increase to $494,377 in the second year. The lease runs for 20 years. Setting aside an area reserved for piston aircraft has been in the works for more than five years, ever since the adoption of a master plan that included a separate prop park. Pacific Aviation was one of four proposals LAWA received on developing the area and the company was chosen in 2008. After the airport commissioners approve the lease, the Los Angeles City Council still needs to give its okay.