St. Clair County's Public Building Commission on Thursday extended the Sept. 30 deadline for an investment group led by John Hewitt to build a new warehouse at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Ill., to July 1, 2012. The extension was part of a modified, shorter lease agreement that also allows for a smaller warehouse, in a different location.
Hewitt, president of H Trading LLC of New York, had asked that certain elements of the company's lease agreement be modified due to the current condition of the economy "that is just now providing international trade and business activity to make the air cargo business case successful," the commission said in a release Thursday. The Public Building Commission operates MidAmerica St. Louis Airport on behalf of St. Clair County, which has put up $250,000 for the project.
The commission also approved cutting the required size of the building to a minimum of 30,000 square feet from a minimum of 62,500 square feet; decreasing total acreage for the lease to 1.7 acres from 26.4 acres; relocating the planned smaller building to a spot farther north and west; and shortening the initial lease to 10 years from 13 years. The new site for the planned warehouse is 475 feet northwest of Boeing's manufacturing building at MidAmerica.
The county would still get its $250,000 investment back if the building isn't completed by July 1 next year, the commission said. The now smaller project has an estimated cost of $2.5 million to $3 million, and St. Clair County would own the building at the end of the lease.
At one time, the warehouse was estimated to be a $4 million to $6 million project.
Mark Kern, chairman of the St. Clair County board, said in a statement, "This is still a key ingredient to the international trade routes already proven, and the unmatched convenience of this airport with its exceptional highway access and uncongested location in the heart of the country continues to make it an ideal location for both the import and export of a wide variety of goods."
Hewitt said when the project was announced in November 2010 that MidAmerica "can become a vital component" of the St. Louis region's efforts to establish a trade hub with China. |
