Page Field hangar rents could rise as much as 125%

Hangar rents at Page Field airport in Fort Myers could rise Oct. 1 by as much as 125%, depending on the category, pending the outcome of a Sept. 3 vote by the Lee County Port Authority Board of Port Commissioners. 

The area’s aviation community and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, a national aviation support group, have organized, trying to convince commissioners in writing to phase in the rate increases rather than activate them overnight. 

On Sept. 3, the commissioners, who double as Lee County commissioners, are slated to vote on the hangar rate increases at Page Field and public parking rate increases at Southwest Florida International Airport. The commissioners agreed during a public workshop May 7 not to phase in the hangar rate increases, as recommended by staff. 

Local aviators then began pushing back on the potential for sudden rate hikes. 

“Probably the largest cost of owning an airplane is the hangar,” said Peter Modys, a local aviator. “If they bump those up, it’s a significant difference in the overhead of owning an airplane.” 

Modys didn’t expect much public sympathy. 

“They think we’re all incredibly rich,” Modys said of public perception. “And that’s not true. There are a lot of different people flying airplanes. Sure, there are some people who have done well. But for the most part, it’s just people who want to fly.” 

AOPA sent a letter to the commissioners and port authority staff Aug. 31, urging them to phase in rent increases over the next two to three years. 

“We respectfully submit that a phased approach better balances LCPA’s financial responsibilities, current FAA policy, sound airport management and the reasonable interests of Page Field’s existing aeronautical tenants,” wrote Stacey Heaton, southern regional manager of AOPA. “We therefore ask the board to reconsider its prior direction before final adoption of the hangar rates.” 

The steepest hangar rate increases would affect box hangars, larger units that house bigger aircraft. 

Rent for 3,600-square-foot box hangars in Building 647 would rise from about $1,000 to $2,250 per month, a 125% increase. Smaller, 2,340-square-foot hangars would rise from about $800 to $1,500 per month, an 87.5% increase, according to figures AOPA obtained from port authority staff. 

Randy Henderson, president of the 105-member Fort Myers Flying Club, was preparing to email the commissioners and urge them to phase in the increases. Henderson pays $105 in monthly dues, giving him access to rent the Cessna 180 aircraft he takes on occasion for weekend trips to visit his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in South Carolina. 

Hangar rate increases likely would result in club dues rising, he said. 

“Nobody’s really arguing that we’re not in a state of hyperinflation,” Henderson said. “Prices are going up everywhere. What the pilots want to see, those who are leasing, is that it not be such a dramatic shock factor to raise it so much, so quickly. A more balanced phase-in would be a little easier. 

“My view is to just make sure it’s a fair approach.” 

Henderson also spent 11 years as mayor of Fort Myers, from 2009 to 2020. He said government should seek to serve a higher purpose of benefiting the public. 

“Sometimes when government’s trying to behave like Wall Street, where they have to make a profit off citizens and taxpayers, I don’t think that’s what government was meant to do,” Henderson said. “There’s a real balancing that should take place. General aviation is really expensive. When you’re trying to reach a young population that has a dream of flying, when the prices keep creeping up like this, it makes it that much harder for young people to break into their dream. I think that bears consideration.” 

Slack, Johnston & Magenheimer Inc., a Miami-based real estate appraisal company, produced a 159-page report on behalf of the port authority in March. The report did not recommend raising the hangar rates, but it did note the rates, across the board, were lower than those at seven general aviation airports of similar size along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It compared Page Field (FMY) with Clearwater (CLW), St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted (SPG), Tampa’s Peter O. Knight (TPF), Tampa Executive (VDF), Sarasota-Bradenton International (SRQ), Punta Gorda (PGD) and Naples (APF). 

At FMY, hangar rates were below the average in all hangar categories. 

Small T-hangars (1,050 square feet) averaged $640 per month; FMY rents were $382-$501 per month. 

Medium T-hangars (1,200-1,400 square feet) ranged from $700-$910 per month; FMY rents were $600 per month. 

Shade hangars averaged $335 per month; FMY rents were $251 per month. 

“They did a market appraisal and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to raise the rates,’” Modys said. “It’s very significant increases in hangar rates. People who own airplanes for fun and aren’t necessarily wealthy folks. They’re going to have to absorb those increases. Mine would go up [46%]. It was $480 and is going to $700 per month. 

“It’s a lot of money. It’s a big increase. Is it fair? I don’t know. It seems like a lot. They hired an appraiser, and the appraiser did his appraisal thing. If they’re going to raise the rates that much, we’d like to see the rates go up over a period of time. If it’s 10% or 20%, people could suck it up. Then they’d have time to prepare. But just doing it overnight, it’s a big chunk. I think people are having difficulty with that.”