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Houston Airport System
July 14, 2008
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In recent months Ellington Field has been the breeding ground for new business opportunities including land for lease, a rise in military presence and other future endeavors. With so many developments on the horizon the airport is now geared for a robust future.
Comprised of a little over 2,500 acres, the general aviation airport only has about 30 Houston Airport System employees on its staff, but the number of users at Ellington is well into the thousands. Federal agencies such as NASA and the U.S. Armed Forces have strong presences there – as do local and national general aviation operators.
The lesser known gem of Houston’s three airports is conveniently located less than 10 miles from William P. Hobby Airport and less than 20 miles from downtown Houston.
“What a lot of people don’t know about Ellington is just how close we are to Hobby Airport and downtown,” says Brian Rinehart, Ellington Field manager. “Passengers who come through here can easily catch a flight anywhere in the country with an eight minute drive to Hobby and be downtown for meetings in about fifteen minutes.”
Ellington Field has always been closely affiliated with the military, but military flights only make up 25 percent of the airport’s flight operations. The other 75 percent are made up of mostly private and general aviation flights.
This year has also been an important one for the Texas Air National Guard, which has had a presence at the airport since 1917. This past June, the Air National Guard replaced their F-16 Fighting Falcons with the new unmanned MQ-1 Predator.
Although there won’t actually be any Predators physically departing and arriving in Houston, the aircraft will be controlled out of Ellington. This is due to strict Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions on the flight of unmanned aerial vehicles.
By the end of the year, the United States Army Reserve and the United States Navy and Marines will be moving to the Joint Reserve Center on 43 acres of land at EFD. This will bring roughly 5,000 people to the small airport including military personnel and their families along with federal civilian employees of the Department of Defense. |
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© Houston Airport System
Poised For Development. Houston's oldest airport - Ellington Field - is destined for great things, according to the recent growth it has experienced over the last several months.
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This spurt of population will bring more options for additional tenants to build business on the nearly 600 acres of land for lease at Ellington Field.
“Potential for development is astronomical,” says Rinehart. “We’re getting numerous inquiries from various industries that want to do business at Ellington. There’s no doubt in my mind that this area is going to grow considerably.”
There are great characteristics to consider for Ellington Field such as its central location to petrochemical and oil industries and a 9,000 foot runway, compared to 6,000 to 8,000 foot runways at most general aviation airports.
The land for lease is located on all sides of the airport property. Some ideal tenants include aircraft manufacturers, general aviation businesses, office building and light industrial park developers.
There’s interest in building additional T-hangars, which are used to park private and corporate aircraft.
Currently all of the T-hangars at Ellington are leased and there is a three year waiting list. The only space left for T-hangar leasing is at the fixed base operators’ (Volo Aviation and Southwest Airport Services) existing T-hangars.
The new taxi lane Kilo, constructed last year, is also spurring new business opportunities.
“Some other big news to look out for at Ellington includes a $7 million Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting facility, a new name for Ellington and the annual Wings Over Houston Airshow, scheduled to take place on October 25-26, 2008,” concludes Rinehart.
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