It is expected to take another six to nine months for the deal to be finalized.
Westover Metropolitan AirportCHICOPEE – The military, the city and a non-profit development corporation are working out a property swap that would benefit each party.
The city, Westover Metropolitan Development Corp. and the Air Force Reserve have come up with a plan that would give Westover Air Reserve Base and the development corporation property they each need and allow the city to sell land it does not.
“It is a three-way swap and purchase in that everyone would get something they need,” said Allan W. Blair, chief executive officer of Westover Metropolitan Development Corp.
But Blair said the swap is complicated. Work to seal the deals began two years ago and is not expected to be finished for six to nine months.
In the first step of the plan, the city would sell about 6.5 acres off Fredette Street to Westover Metropolitan Development Corp. That land was part of a much larger parcel originally given to Chicopee when Westover Air Reserve Base was converted to a reserve base.
Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said condominiums were to be built on the land more than 20 years ago, but they were never constructed. City officials discovered they owned it when employees did an inventory of all property in the city several years ago.
Two appraisals of the land must be done before the sale price is figured to meet federal guidelines. Bissonnette said preliminary estimates value the land at about $400,000.
The development corporation is not planning to keep the 6.5 acres. Instead, it will swap the land with the Air Force Reserve in exchange for the passenger terminal at the Westover Metropolitan Airport, Blair said.
The Westover Metropolitan Airport, which is owned by the development corporation and created from Air Force surplus property, will also turn over two 1957 hangars it owns at the airport to the military, he said.
“We will end up with title to the passenger terminal that we have under long-term lease. The Air Force would get control of a couple of hangars they need, and the city would sell property on James Street that the military wants,” Blair said. “It is a win, win, win.”
The two hangars in question have had a number of uses over the years, but they are not vital to the airport, he said.
While the development corporation has a long-term lease for the airport terminal, two years ago it decided it would be better if it owned it, Blair said.
“We have a lot invested in the building ... and the most secure way to protect the investment is to own it,” Blair said.
Officials for Westover were not available for comment yesterday, but Bissonnette said the military has wanted the 6.5 acres for security reasons.
“The property would be transferred to the Department of Defense for perimeter security,” he said. “They prefer not to see it developed.”