A groundbreaking for a $2.5 million corporate aviation airpark will take place at 11 a.m. today at the Minden-Tahoe Airport.
The airpark, the Mustang Business Center, will contain four 19,000 square-foot buildings, the first of which is slated to open Nov. 30.
"Three tenants have already signed on," said Scott Lether, owner of Monolith Enterprises, Inc., the commercial developing firm in charge of the project.
The spaces, four per building, are available for airplane maintenance, machine shops, and small-scale plane manufacturing, as well as private plane storage. The units will offer the basic hangar shell with office, with adjustments made at the tenant's expense.
Lether says he hopes to draw both private and commercial tenants to the airpark.
"Corporate aviation has increased, but building just hasn't kept up with the demand," Lether said.
"We've been contacted by California businesses expressing interest in branching out into our airport," said Jim Braswell, operational services director and manager for the Minden-Tahoe Airport.
"The four acres of land that Lether will be building on were originally outfitted for construction in 1990 and 1991, but have been vacant since," Braswell said.
The airpark is the first of its kind on the P-51 Court section of the airport.
"I'm impressed with the Mustang Business Center. Its layout is very professional, and includes landscaping to be completed after construction is finished," Braswell said.
The Mustang Business Center vision began with Lether's desire to benefit the aviation field and was followed by a two-year period of planning and negotiation with Braswell.
"We've worked really hard together trying to get this project off the ground, and I've gotten to know Scott pretty well during that time," Braswell said. "I know that his work will be successful."
Lether's project isn't the only growth on the airfield. Braswell said various hangars have been completed recently, and another previously-established business just finished a 3,300-foot expansion. He hopes the growth will provide jobs and training opportunities that will help keep aviation-minded young people in the community.
Lether grew up in the Gardnerville/Minden area and has been involved with aviation for 22 years. He moved to Washington state and worked with Boeing as an aircraft aeronautical engineer and airplane mechanic for 15 years. His parents, Fred and Judy Lether, have been in the area for 25 years and are co-owners of the sandwich shop Port of Subs.
For more information about the Mustang Business Center, call Scott Lether at 782-3776.