DISPUTE OVER HANGAR LEASES ESCALATES TO LAWSUIT

A simmering disagreement between a group of private hangar owners and airport management at Ogden Regional (OGD) has resulted in a lawsuit being filed against the airport by the owners.

The suit centers around the terms of the ground leases on land where the hangars are located: In 2020 the City of Ogden, owner/operator of the airport, revised the leases to allow the airport to exercise its reversion rights on the improvements (such as hangars) when the leases expire. That means the airport becomes the owner of the hangars and current owners must remove the hangars or simply vacate. Such reversionary rights are fairly standard in-ground lease agreements around the U.S., however, leases are typically long enough for developers to recoup their investment.

The owners claim the city did not act in good faith, leading the owners to believe their leases would continue to be renewed when in fact, they will not. The airport has identified those parcels as being valuable for future development of aerospace businesses they are seeking to attract. Such businesses are more lucrative and will also have lease terms of up to 40 years, whereas the current leases are only 15 years.