FAA rejects a major land deal between New College of Florida and Sarasota Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration has rejected a major land deal between New College of Florida and the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport designed to avert a financial nightmare for New College that awaits at the end of a 100-year land lease agreement and pave the way for long-term plans for the college's campus.
If New College's lease with the airport expires in 2056, the SRQ-owned land and any campus buildings on it would revert to airport ownership.
The recently negotiated deal involves a land swap and sale that would permanently convey 30.94 acres of airport land to New College of Florida for $11.5 million.
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FAA rules require fair market value for the sale or lease of airport land, but the college's low-cost lease was made many years before the rule was implemented and was grandfathered in as a result.
New College pays a little over $108,000 per year in rent for about 32 acres currently leased from the airport.
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport will continue to pursue land swap deal with New College of Florida
The FAA notified airport officials this week that it has declined the request to release the property from federal obligations, SRQ CEO Fredrick Piccolo said.
The reason for the FAA's denial has not yet been made public. However, the airport has major plans for expansion near land currently leased by New College that include new terminals.
“The FAA has notified the airport that the FAA has declined to approve the request to release the land for sale to New College," Piccolo said. "The airport does not agree with this initial determination and will pursue further discussions on this matter.”
New College President Richard Corcoran said the deal is mutually beneficial to both parties.
"The current deal approved by the New College Board of Trustees and the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority benefits our entire community," Corcoran said in a statement. "Resolving the land exchange now will remove barriers to immediate and future growth for both the Airport and the College, and we look forward to continuing discussions that will move the deal forward."
New College board-members approved a preliminary agreement with the airport in December, pending FAA approval and state funding for the land purchase. The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, the governor-appointed board that oversees SRQ, followed suit on March 26.
If a permanent land sale is not eventually reached, the college could face a substantial rent increase because of the FAA's fair-market value rules upon renewal of its lease. Alternatively, the college could be forced to purchase the land, and its own buildings from the airport at that time at a much higher price.
The college has preliminary plans to renovate dorms and existing facilities located on the property, and construction of new athletics fields.
Those plans hinge on funding approvals by the Florida legislature, which could be wary of investing heavily on facilities located on land that could potentially revert back to airport ownership.
Manatee County conveys land to New College
Manatee County donated about nine acres of county-owned land from the Powel Crosley Estate to New College in February.
The land had been originally promised in 2020 to the University of South Florida, but county commissioners instead opted to donate the land to New College after negotiations with USF stalled.
Not all of the New College land is located on airport-owned property, but it is heavily landlocked otherwise and Manatee County's donation gives the college space to build dormitories or other facilities at the northern end of the campus.
New College is working to create a new master plan for the campus that will determine what facilities could be built on that land, and on land located on airport property, over the course of the next decade.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: FAA rejects New College of Florida and Sarasota Airport land deal
