Wilmington task force examining proposals for DHL hub
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
WILMINGTON — A regional task force planning for the redevelopment of the Wilmington Air Park, DHL's U.S. freight hub which is to shut down its major operations after this month, has begun reviewing proposals from companies that could guide the airport's re-use.
A total of 17 companies, some working with others, have combined to submit 12 proposals to the economic task force.
The companies that responded to the task force's request for information include major players in airport planning, commercial real estate services and re-use of brownfield properties. Among them are CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle; design/planning specialists Gresham Smith and Partners, of Nashville, Tenn., Dayton-based Woolpert Inc., and airport planning specialist Landrum & Brown Inc., of Cincinnati.
The task force, which includes state and local officials, business leaders and representatives of ABX Air and ASTAR Air Cargo, contractors which fly cargo from DHL's Wilmington hub, will spend the next several weeks assessing the proposals.
There is no deadline for choosing the winning proposal, said Chris Schock, executive director of the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission.
The companies were asked to provide information about redevelopment possibilities and challenges, not formal cost estimates, so the costs of any proposal to be selected is yet to be determined, Schock said Wednesday, Jan. 14. Federal funding may be available to help pay for the eventual redevelopment effort, Schock said.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sent a letter Monday urging President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders to support setting aside $100 million to help economically distressed communities, including those near DHL's Wilmington hub.
The U.S. Department of Commerce provided funding, along with local governments, to cover the $80,000 contract under which a specialist has been hired to draft a comprehensive plan for economic redevelopment of the 2,200-acre airport and the region.
He is Rafeal Underwood, a former Dayton and Ohio Department of Development official who also helped develop an interchange supporting the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Wilmington Mayor David Raizk has asked DHL to donate the Wilmington Air park to a public entity so that state and local officials can control the redevelopment of the property to bring in new jobs. DHL has said it would consider donating the property, but has not made a decision.
