Development
Mystery 'Project Sky' wins unanimous 39-year Melbourne Airport lease on former Aerion land
The Melbourne Airport Authority approved a ground lease for an undisclosed ‘blue-chip’ aeronautical firm on about 30 acres west of Embraer. The company’s name and job count remain secret.
MELBOURNE, Fla. — An undisclosed aeronautical company code-named Project Sky is set to build on about 30 acres on the northwest side of Melbourne Orlando International Airport, just west of Embraer’s business-jet manufacturing campus, after the Melbourne Airport Authority board unanimously approved a ground lease for the project Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Airport Executive Director Greg Donovan framed the tenant as a catch worth keeping under wraps a little longer. “I will say that this is a blue-chip company. You will be very proud to have them in your neighborhood. And with your concurrence, we will turn it over to them when they are ready to make the announcement,” Donovan told the board, according to Florida Today.
Per the meeting agenda, the mystery company will construct "aeronautical facilities and related improvements" north of General Aviation Drive, Florida Today reported. Few other details about Project Sky were discussed at the meeting.
Donovan said the lease will last 39 years with two 5½-year option periods. Initial base rent will clock in at $53,361 per month, or about $640,332 per year, with the airport waiving 100% of that rent in year one, 50% in year two and 25% in year three. Every five years after that, consumer-price-index rate adjustments call for annual increases ranging from 3% to 7%. The lease is projected to generate $23.9 million for the airport over the 39-year base term, not including CPI adjustments or aeronautical fees.
“This is development of land that's never been used. To our knowledge, this land has never been used for anything, even back in the Navy days,” Donovan said, referring to Naval Air Station Melbourne's World War II operations from 1942 to 1946.
Asked about jobs, Donovan kept the number sealed. “It is great news. I would love to tell you the jobs associated with it, but it is a sensitive issue with the company,” he told board members. Mark Busalacchi, airport director of business development and marketing, said the unnamed Project Sky company intends to move "fairly quickly," but he does not expect a public announcement within the next 30 to 60 days.
This 30-acre site, which lies just west of Embraer's business-jet manufacturing campus, was previously earmarked to house Aerion Supersonic's $375 million global headquarters, but the company abruptly shut down in May 2021 amid a cash crunch. Aerion Supersonic had been projected to build on the land and bring at least 675 high-paying jobs to Florida's Space Coast by 2026. The Nevada-based company planned to manufacture $120 million supersonic business jets at the Melbourne airport, but that vision never materialized.
Project Sky is a separate pursuit from Project Autobahn, another unnamed company the airport authority has courted for a confidential undertaking that could be based out of a 176-acre site at the airport. Airport officials have described that company as a "very well-established and enormously respected organization," and Florida Today on Monday reported that the Melbourne Airport Authority voted unanimously to approve a pair of lease options for Project Autobahn on that land, FLYING magazine reported in March. The two code names refer to different companies and different land.
Until the company or the airport publicly names the tenant, the confirmed record is a unanimous Sept. 23 ground lease for Project Sky on about 30 acres west of Embraer, a 39-year term with options, and a self-described blue-chip neighbor whose name is not expected within the next 30 to 60 days.