Friedman Memorial Airport Acquires Portion of Ranch

ID – The Friedman Memorial Authority board has approved a $15 million purchase and sale agreement with the Eccles family for the acquisition of 386 acres of the Eccles Flying Hat Ranch land located southeast of the runway. This included a $13.5 million grant offer from the FAA which covers about 90% of the cost of purchasing the land.

The land acquisition will remain zones for agricultural use providing the airport with approach and departure protection in the event of a crash and prevent residential developments around the runway. In October 2018, the airport bought 65 acres of the ranch directly south of the runway for $2.26 million, with the goal of removing about 200 cottonwood trees that the FAA had deemed as obstructions to airplane takeoffs and landings.

Of the new 386 acres, a 10-acre section of the parcel to the south and west of the runway could potentially be developed into a new standalone private-plane terminal and hangar facilities. No other developments on Eccles land are proposed. There were no significant environmental impacts found from the land purchase.

One option that the airport would seek is inviting a new FBO and the remaining 376 acres would remain undeveloped. The new FBO would accommodate more “niche,” specialized providers of aeronautical services, such as air taxi, charter, pilot-training, aircraft rental, and sightseeing companies. The 10-acre plot of land could also house small aircraft, such as Cessna 421 planes, and three large hangars for larger jets.

The airport manager mentions that this doesn’t mean a second FBO is going to happen, but it would be a possibility.