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Air cargo · Facilities
How on-airport cargo facilities get built, and what the ground leases look like
On-airport cargo development follows a consistent structure: an airport authority request for proposals with an 18 to 24 month procurement-to-planning cycle, a 30 to 50 year ground lease including options granted to a specialist developer, frequent public co-investment of around 50%, and short subtenant leases of five to ten years. That duration mismatch is the core underwriting risk and the reason these assets price closer to specialized industrial than to net lease.
The benchmark comparables
| Project | Structure |
|---|---|
| JFK, Aero JFK II, developed by Aeroterm | 346,000 square feet on more than 26 acres in the north cargo area. $132 million total with the Port Authority contributing about $70 million. Ground lease of 33 years plus a 15-year renewal option, with $117 million of aggregate rental fees to the Port Authority. Capacity for three of the largest freighters simultaneously, elevated traversing vehicles, a temperature-controlled pharma area, and Worldwide Flight Services as operator. A concurrent $62.2 million CA and CB taxiway upgrade was required to give large freighters access. |
| JFK, consolidated cargo handling center, developed by Realterm | $270 million, 350,000 square feet on 26 acres, opened 24 April 2025 with Worldwide Flight Services as operator. The first new cargo facility at JFK in 25 years. Consolidates four cargo zones into one, with 3,000 square feet temperature-controlled and automated dock management. Described as the first step in the Port Authority's broader redevelopment of the airport's north cargo area. |
| Chicago O'Hare, Northeast Cargo Campus, developed by Realterm | 900,000 square feet across three phases, with Phase III at 130,000 square feet and $43 million completed 29 August 2024. Thirteen jumbo freighter parking positions, more than 100,000 tonnes a year of throughput, and more than 2,500 solar panels. Worldwide Flight Services is the tenant. |
| Salt Lake City, developed by AFCO | About 150,000 square feet airside and landside at more than $50 million, on a long-term ground lease public-private partnership with the Salt Lake City Department of Airports. AFCO will develop, lease and manage, with one to four subtenants on five to ten year leases. October 2024 request for proposals, preferred bidder in the first half of 2025, final planning in the second half of 2026. |
| Miami, Future-Ready Perishables Facility | More than 340,000 square feet at $141 million, funded with $98.5 million from Mandich Group, $9 million from PortMiami and a $33.5 million United States Department of Transportation MARAD grant. Groundbreaking 22 July 2025 and completion in 2027. More than 25,000 pallet positions and 50-foot clear height, designed for more than 1.5 million tons of agricultural cargo a year and more than 20,000 TEUs a year of phytosanitary treatment. Cold-Link Logistics operating, with Reveam treatment technology. |
| San Francisco | More than $300 million for a 310,000 square foot two-storey terminal completing in spring 2028, built by Skanska USA Building with Lodige automation and three elevating transfer vehicles. Note that two sources give inconsistent square footage breakdowns — verify before citing. |
| Anchorage | A roughly $160 million programme operational in summer 2026, comprising a $42 million FedEx domestic sorting facility, the $75 million Alaska Cargo and Cold Storage complex, and a NorthLink Aviation operation with Cathay Pacific anchoring. |
Anchorage is a regulatory asset, not a catchment area
Ted Stevens Anchorage ranks third globally on 3.85 million tonnes with almost no local consumption base, because of liberal cargo transfer rights permitting foreign carriers to transfer cargo between aircraft, combine shipments, and change aircraft or carriers — privileges not permitted at most United States airports. Cold storage and transfer warehousing at Anchorage therefore underwrites on a legal privilege rather than on a population catchment.
The pattern, for advisory purposes
The airport authority issues a request for proposals, and procurement to planning runs 18 to 24 months. A long-dated ground lease of 30 to 50 years including options goes to a specialist developer. Public co-investment is common, roughly 50% at JFK Aero II, because cargo facilities rarely clear a private return hurdle at airport ground rents. Subtenant leases are short at five to ten years, and the mismatch against the ground lease is the risk to price. A ground handler is usually the operating tenant rather than the airline, with Worldwide Flight Services the dominant counterparty across JFK and O’Hare. Enabling airside works, such as the $62.2 million of taxiway at JFK, are often a separate public expenditure and a gating item on delivery.
The specialist developers
Realterm, Aeroterm and AFCO are one platform and the dominant United States on-airport specialist, behind JFK’s $270 million consolidated center, JFK Aero II, O’Hare’s 900,000 square foot campus and the Salt Lake City public-private partnership, plus Manchester-Boston and Harrisburg partnerships, having raised $150 million for Realterm Airport Logistics Properties and acquired a 22-property, 324,903 square foot portfolio. Hillwood is building at Rockford, 334,800 square feet, and at AllianceTexas, where a 1.2 million square foot speculative building broke ground in July 2026, and launched the Alliance Logistics District with BNSF Railway and the City of Fort Worth. Prologis owns airport-adjacent portfolios including Prologis Airport South 2 and 3 in Atlanta. CenterPoint Properties built the only recent new development in the JFK submarket, 129,000 square feet at 65 Rason Road, fully leased to FedEx.
Two live uncertainties we will not paper over
The LAX Cargo Modernization Program has no verifiable square footage, capital expenditure, phasing or 2025 to 2026 milestone since Los Angeles World Airports selected LAX Community Partners in July 2023, following a September 2022 request for proposals that itself came after a three-year delay. Given LAX cargo fell 4.8% in 2025, that is a live question for any Los Angeles basin cargo thesis.
Newark’s Building 340 similarly has no current verifiable specifications, though the Port Authority has issued a request for proposals to lease, operate and maintain two major Newark cargo buildings through renovation. For context, Newark cargo supports 22,000 regional jobs and roughly 40% of its cargo moves in passenger bellies.
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This research was produced by Landside Partners, a commercial real estate research and advisory firm working with owners of industrial land across North America on data center, seaport and air-cargo demand. To have a specific parcel assessed, contact Brad Cohen at Landside Partners.
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