GREAT FALLS — On Tuesday, the Great Falls Planning Advisory Board approved a request by the Great Falls International Airport to use Tax Increment Financing funds for a new project on property already owned by the airport. The buildings will sit on 300 acres of land north of the I-15 corridor near the airport and west of the Cascade County Detention Center.
The airport will use $110,000 in TIF funds and about $650,000 from a city bond. Airport Director John Faulkner explained that the main purpose of the project is to provide a shared space for multiple businesses. He said that the space can accommodate up to 26 units, and the Airport Authority, in conjunction with Dick Anderson Construction, plans to build up to three buildings over the next 10 years.
“We can achieve those economies of scale by sharing walls, sharing a ceiling, sharing truck bays, sharing the infrastructure burden that it takes to build these buildings,” Faulkner told the Board. He also added that the plan is to lease the space to a number of different local businesses.
The project will begin this spring and will be phased over several years, and the building itself will be divided into bays that can then be sold or rented to those businesses owners.
The TIF funds that the Airport Authority had requested will go towards installing water and sewer lines, as well as creating new access points on the road.
