Airport City & Aerotropolis Expertise
Implementation & Execution Experts
Western Peak helps our airport, developer and economic development agency clients, leverage one of their community’s greatest assets – the airport – to optimize the catalytic real estate potential of the airport for the benefit of the surrounding as well as the benefit of the airport’s aviation operations.
We note that although the use of these two terms in project naming may have waned somewhat in the U.S. in recent years (especially “Airport City”) the underlying principles and practices, as defined by industry pioneer Dr. John Kasarda, continue to grow in importance tied to the increasing importance of non-aeronautical revenues for all airports. This is especially true internationally where both terms also continue to be incorporated in the actual project names of many large airport-related developments. See the definitional differences below.
Western Peak differentiates itself in the airport city and aerotropolis arena through our deep hands-on experience with the planning, implementation and execution of commercial real estate development (our experience is detailed below). This integrated experience, which incorporates our work with airports, developers and economic development agencies, remains quite unique and is a critical element in supporting the entire range of services Western Peak provides for:
- Airports and their ownership entities (e.g. authorities, cities, counties),
- Real Estate Developers, including large airport-adjacent landowners,
- Economic Development Agencies, including the agencies, districts and authorities charged with creating and carrying out the marketing plans for the aerotropolis region.
In the U.S., most airports, airport-related economic development agencies and real estate developers continue to focus on front-end land planning activities rather than proactive implementation. There are a number of reasons for this including the inconsistent FAA direction concerning the use of airport revenue to grow long-term non-aeronautical revenue.
In contrast, Western Peak’s focus is to help our clients move into the development implementation and execution stages. This starts with our guidance of land planning that take into consideration developer procurement strategies, land lease and transaction structures, FAA factors, infrastructure funding, phasing, etc. We also bring into the mix a detailed evaluation of each airport’s passenger and cargo service route structures, present and future. This is a key step missing in most airport-related real estate development strategies (including those sponsored by airports, economic development agencies and developers).
Western Peak’s Airport City & Aerotropolis Expertise
Western Peak’s airport city and aerotropolis expertise overlaps and is complemented by our related experience with airports, commercial real estate development, airport-centric economic development and related marketing. Western Peak differentiates itself in the airport city and aerotropolis space by our deep experience with the real-world, hands-on implementation and execution of airport-related commercial development, including:
See our airport city and aerotropolis projects portfolio below for addtional background on our related experience.
Airport City & Aerotropolis Definitions
An Aerotropolis is a metropolitan sub-region where the layout, infrastructure, and economy are centered on an airport which serves as a multi-modal commercial core, sometimes referred to as an “airport city.” It is similar in form to a traditional metropolis, which contains a central city commercial core and commuter-linked suburbs. The term was repurposed by air commerce pioneer John D. Kasarda in 2000 based on his prior research on airport-driven economic development.
Airports have become business magnets and regional economic accelerators, catalyzing business development outward for many miles. As Kasarda has observed, the aerotropolis is becoming the concrete urban manifestation of the global meeting the local, with the airport serving as its physical interface (see Dr. Kasarda’s compressed Airport City/Aerotropolis model). Ecologically it is one of the most efficient ways to plan following smart growth principles.
An Airport City is a development on airport property that includes clusters of aviation-related enterprises. The airport city maximizes the use of the entire airport
property, improving non-aeronautical revenues and helping the facility’s aeronautical function to prosper to its full capacity. The term is also generally attributed to Dr. Kasarda.
Airports are typically surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of acres of undeveloped land that acts as an environmental buffer for nearby residents. Many commercial uses can be developed to generate new sources of revenue for the airport and make the airport a business or tourism destination in its own right.
Western Peak’s Airport City & Aerotropolis Experience
While previously serving as the first Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Airport City Development at Denver International Airport (the largest airport commercial development program in the U.S.), Western Peak Principal Dan Poremba initiated and led many airport city and aerotropolis initiatives and projects. He also visited and investigated dozens of the top global airport cities and aerotropoli.
Western Peak Principal David Fiore has also been involved in numerous airport city and aerotropolis arena initiatives and projects. As an elected official in the Chicago area, Mr. Fiore was a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Airport Capacity Committee which evaluated the real estate and infrastructure impacts for Chicago’s planned third airport. He also led his community, Naperville, on regional transportation planning initiatives as part of an economic development team which put the community on the map as #1 in Money Magazine consecutively year-after-year and landing multiple world-headquarters and regional businesses.
Our experience includes teaming relationships with the top aerotropolis and airport city strategic planners, including Dr. John Kasarda , President of Aerotropolis Business Concepts (http://aerotropolisbusinessconcepts.aero) and Chris LeTourneur, President of MXD Development Strategists (http://mxddevelopment.com).
See our airport city and aerotropolis projects portfolio below for additional background on our related experience.
Also, Western Peak’s aerotropolis / airport city expertise overlaps and is complemented by our related experience and service offering, including Airport Commercial Real Estate, non-airport Commercial Real Estate Services, Airport-Driven Economic Development and other specialized service offerings. Read more by clicking on the buttons below.
Airport Services & Properties Airport Commercial Real Estate Commercial Development & Real Estate Services Airport-Centric Economic Development Airport & Real Estate Marketing Special Services