We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Ohio county to seek tenants for former DHL air hub
newsworthy

Ohio county to seek tenants for former DHL air hub

June 8, 2011
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

More than two years after being abandoned by DHL Express, the Wilmington, Ohio, air park is back on its feet.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL), the Chicago-based real estate and logistics services giant, announced late Monday that it has begun marketing 2.5 million square feet of office, industrial, and aircraft hangar space at the air park for lease or build-to-suit development. The 2,000-acre facility, nestled in southwest Ohio, has 3 million square feet in all, with 500,000 square feet already occupied by Air Transport Services Group Inc. (ATSG), a provider of outsourced air-cargo transportation and related services to airlines and other companies.

JLL has begun work on a master redevelopment plan that will be submitted this November to the Clinton County (Ohio) Port Authority, which took control of the facility in mid-2010 after DHL transferred its ownership. Once the port authority approves the plan, JLL will move ahead with what David Lotterer, a senior associate at the firm, called "targeted marketing" aimed at attracting potential buyers, developers, or lessees.

The Monday announcement is significant because "it tells the world that the air park is back in business," Lotterer said.

Lotterer said the firm's final report will include recommendations on the most viable use of the facility. Prior to the transfer of ownership, the air park was the largest privately owned airport in the United States. Among its features are two large runways capable of handling aircraft of any size, Lotterer said.

Lotterer said the air park, located midway between Cincinnati and Columbus, still has enormous potential as either an air-cargo hub or as a distribution center. He said it will probably be positioned as a multi-use facility and that it is unlikely that a single private entity would ever again control it.

The former Airborne Express bought the air park from the city of Wilmington in 1980, 10 years after the U.S. Air Force abandoned it as a refueling depot. DHL took control of the facility when it bought Airborne in 2003 and said it made about $300 million in improvements in its seven years of ownership.

DHL's January 2009 decision to end domestic U.S. operations and dramatically curtail operations at the air park had a devastating impact on Wilmington and the seven surrounding counties. In Wilmington, with a population of less than 12,000, it was estimated that one of three households had someone employed at the air park at the time DHL ended U.S. operations there.

Today, DHL serves the U.S. market only as part of an international movement. Several months after ceasing domestic service, it moved those international operations to its hub in nearby Cincinnati, thus severing its ties with Wilmington.

Transportation Air
KEYWORDS Air Transport Services Group Inc. DHL JLL
  • Related Articles

    DHL transfers ownership of Wilmington airport to Ohio county; formal announcement to come tomorrow

    Deutsche Post DHL to formally transfer ownership of former U.S. air hub

    County seeks proposals for developing Wilmington Air Park

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Cold chain giant Lineage Logistics buys its own rail operator

  • Biden names dozens of senior leaders to DOT, including FMCSA and FRA

  • Outlook 2021: What’s in store for logistics supply chain?

  • Cushman & Wakefield Brokers Sale of 170 Acres plus Lease for 1MSF Build-to-Suit for Home Improvement Retailer in Commerce City, CO.

  • Thriving in the long haul: interview with Colin Yankee

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Sick agv demo thumbnail

Optimize Load Handling Tasks with Industrial Mobile Robots

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Intelligent sensors detect the presence of goods, check for empty shelves, or the correct alignment on the mobile platform towards the freight. The solutions range from simple detection sensors, thorough measuring devices, and 2D LiDAR sensors.

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Proven Benefits: A Compendium of Slotting Optimization Success Snapshots

  • Bridging Information Gaps in Dock and Yard Operations

  • How Intelligent Sensor Solutions Turn Data Into Action

  • Order picking Solutions: Understanding Your Options

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing