Lancaster EDC updates Columbia council on McGuinness Airport redevelopment, recommends stabilizing site first

John B. Miller, vice president of business retention and expansion at EDC Lancaster County, told Columbia Borough Council on March 27 that the borough now controls land needed to redevelop the former McGuinness Airport site and that the project has cleared many predevelopment hurdles.

Miller said the borough’s ownership and site-control work are the project’s most important near-term accomplishments and that consultants have completed design, permitting and studies required to reach the next stage. “The most important thing that has happened over the years ... is the borough bought the site and got site control,” Miller said.

Why it matters: the site is large and technically complex, and the borough has already applied for and received preliminary state funding commitments. Miller said the borough’s Business-in-Our-Sites (BIOS) application was approved, with the Commonwealth awarding a $3,300,000 grant and a $5,000,000 loan for the redevelopment. Council and staff discussed multiple options for using those funds to move the project toward tax-generating development.

What officials described: the original property purchase totaled about $1.6 million; the McGuinness parcel itself was priced at $1.495 million, with $539,000 of the purchase attributed to the recreation/park land that the borough intends to keep. Miller and borough staff presented a draft redevelopment plan that would reverse-subdivide the property so about 42 acres would be available for business development after carving out roughly 17 acres of recreation/park space.

Miller outlined four possible paths after predevelopment work: (1) sell the property now “as is,” (2) stabilize the site and then sell the whole parcel, (3) stabilize and complete full infrastructure (roads, utilities) and then sell, or (4) stabilize, develop the infrastructure and sell individual parcels. He and borough staff recommended completing demolition and then bidding phase 1 stabilization, because “stabilization ... addresses the biggest challenge that a private developer is gonna have” and makes the site marketable, Miller said.

Costs and funding: Miller and EDC staff presented earlier 2022 pro forma numbers showing total purchase and development cost estimates near $10.5 million, which were later adjusted by the state in the BIOS application. The team said roughly $9.0 million of the eligible costs were considered for BIOS funding and that the state’s decision produced an award of $3.3 million in grant funds plus a $5.0 million loan. The borough has also received a separate $1.2 million grant secured by state legislators that helped cover predevelopment expenses.

Timing and next steps: borough staff said demolition bid awards for a small portion of the site were planned for the April 22 council meeting and that, if council closes on the BIOS loan, staff would advertise and bid the stabilization work with a target to begin in July and finish by September. Derek (borough staff) summarized the schedule: “We’re shooting for July. Get started and then finish up September.”

Council members stressed two priorities: protect the borough’s financial position and make the property attractive enough to get development started quickly. Several councilors said they preferred stabilizing the site and then marketing it through an economic development corporation rather than taking the borough deeper into full-scale development. Miller and staff said the borough can transfer its MPDES/NPDES erosion-and-stormwater permitting to a buyer once agreements are in place, which would shorten a buyer’s time to build.

The borough manager and EDC said BIOS reimbursements are processed quickly once documentation is submitted, and that some previously incurred predevelopment costs could be reimbursed after BIOS closing. Miller also said the state granted a one-year extension to the BIOS contract so the borough can begin drawing down the funds through June 30 of next year.

Ending: Council members did not decide on a final sales strategy at the meeting; they directed staff to proceed with demolition bid awards and to prepare the stabilization bid package and updated cost estimates for council consideration at the April 22 meeting.