Falcon Hill construction to carry on in 2014

  • Published
  • By Richard W. Essary
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FRCE BASE, Utah --  The Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park developer began construction here Jan. 21 on another commercial building for the largest Enhanced Use Lease project in the Air Force.

The project is the first to use a purely commercial model and will bring additional jobs and revitalized infrastructure to Hill AFB including new buildings, roads and utilities. Sunset Ridge Development Partners, the primary developer, has completed three major construction projects to date.

The first, an ICBM Prime Integration contract support office building just inside the West Gate was completed in March 2012; the second was a new 35,000 square-foot building for the 75th Security Forces Squadron in January 2012; and the third was the construction of a new West Gate, which was completed in April 2012 and moved the gate east to accommodate plans for additional Falcon Hill construction.

The new commercial office building will provide an additional 75,000 square feet of office space for Department of Defense contractors and specifically Air Force contractors that desire to build synergy with their Hill AFB customers. The building is part of a master plan to that gives new and existing Air Force contractors supporting the base's growing mission new office space opportunities.

"If approved by senior Air Force officials, this proposal may allow the Air Force to take ownership of a floor instead of waiting for an entire building," said David Williamsen, Chief of the EUL Program Office. "This concept would also allow the Air Force to vacate two west side buildings for demolition, while speeding up the process by years of giving the Air Force new office space to replace the vintage WWII office space currently used."

The Air Force and Air Force Civil Engineering Center are currently working through this concept, a first for the DoD, and plan to have a way ahead to move forward by the end of January 2014, Williamsen said.

In addition to this latest ground breaking, SRDP is on the verge of building a new commercial retail facility outside the West Gate to support Falcon Hill and Hill AFB.

"The retail area is over 10,000 square feet of building space for four retail establishments that will include restaurants," Williamsen said. "The Air Force and AFCEC are working together to finalize the lease for the retail area and plan to have this completed by the end of January."