The Lockhart City Council approved a 30‑year ground lease with Lockhart Air Partners LLC on Nov. 5 to build a 10,000‑square‑foot hangar at the Lockhart Municipal Airport.

Public Works Director Sean Kelly said the hangar would sit on the north side of the tie‑down area and that the draft ground‑lease term presented to council calls for 25 cents per square foot for the 10,000 square feet. Kelly told council the lessee, Lockhart Air Partners, would be responsible for constructing and maintaining a paved ramp, all improvements and repairs on the leased premises, utilities from the meter into the building, and erosion control. The company also indicated plans to provide Jet A fuel and other FBO services in later phases.

Eric Landrum of Lockhart Air Partners described his experience operating an FBO at the San Marcos Airport since 1994 and said the business intends to move operations to Lockhart and expand services over time, including aircraft management, maintenance and limited flight operations. He said the initial phase’s investment was stated in the presentation as approximately $65,700,000 (the figure was provided by the developer during the meeting and was not further explained by staff). Kelly said the airport advisory board recommended the ground lease for council consideration.

Council discussed community concerns including possible increases in training traffic and aircraft noise; staff and the prospective lessee said any change to flight‑pattern procedures would require coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and direct outreach to pilots. Kelly said the airport manager can receive citizen reports and contact pilots or nearby controlling facilities to address flights that appear to violate expected patterns or altitudes.

The council voted 7–0 to approve the ground lease (motion by Mayor Pro Tem Angie Gonzalez Sanchez; second by Councilman Castillo). Staff said construction materials will be ordered immediately if the lessee moves forward and that site work could begin within weeks, with structure erection occurring about three to four months later depending on materials delivery.