North Dallas and More

Fort Worth Alliance Airport continues to ride the momentum of its multimodal "inland port" approach, labeling itself as the "world's first industrial airport." FAA approval has come for extending its runway from 9,600 ft. to 13,000 ft. (2,926 m. to 3,962 m.), which will allow fully loaded and fueled aircraft to fly to remote destinations in Europe and Asia. In concert with that four-year project is the planning of a 52-acre (21-hectare) air cargo center with an 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,432-sq.-m.) cross-dock facility.
        Such development complements already bustling facilities like the Burlington Northern Santa Fe intermodal center, which has seen a 30-percent rise in industrial freight volume in less than 10 years, to more than 34,000 units moved per month. Alliance's growing community of third-party logistics providers (3PLs) receives support from strong logistics and supply chain programs at both the University fo Notth Texas and Texas Christian University.
        Attractive to those 3PLs and their corporate customers are the development's 9,600-acre (3,885-hectare) foreign trade zone and triple freeport inventory tax exemption.
        Growth in the area – helped in part by low property taxes and a sales-tax-fueled incentive fund – has in turn boosted the size of the tax base in Roanoke, Texas, by a factor of six in the past five years, with more than half of the increase coming from Alliance-based companies.
        The next wave of development may envelop the towns of Haslet, Justin and Northlake, which have recently implemented sales-tax-supported funds to help induce corporate locations. As usual, Hillwood is prepared, counting unzoned land parcels in Denton Co. of 662 acres (268 hectares) and 1,475 acres (597 hectares) among those in its sale portfolio.
        And corporations continue to expand in one of the state's northern outposts. So far in 2003, Pratt & Whitney Component Repairs and Wichita Clutch-Colfax Corp. have chosen to close manufacturing facilities elsewhere in order to consolidate in Wichita Falls, where a sales tax increase six years ago has helped the city develop an incentive fund (approximately $2.4 million annually) to help with relocation and expansion expenses.

Going for the Gold

San Antonio, the ninth-largest city in the U.S., is going to see a 10-year economic impact of over $1.1 billion net present value from the 2,000-employee Toyota Tundra pickup factory, according to projections from the University of Texas-San Antonio's (UTSA) Institute for Economic Development. A potential supplier park adjacent to the assembly plant could employ as many as 500 more people, should Toyota choose to go forward with it. Such a project would be in line with similar parks in other parts of the world, as well as with Toyota's logistics integration efforts.
        In May, Bexar County became the first of 19 governmental entities to approve its portion of the incentive package (a $22-million tax abatement). But San Antonio is not stopping there.
        Backed by the presence of Lockheed Martin and Boeing at the Kelly USA development, an aerospace economy that already has a $2.5-billion annual impact, the R&D powerhouse Southwest Research Institute and the start-up of the Alamo Area Aerospace Academy, San Antonio is throwing its hat into the ring for the Boeing 7E7 plant (see story, p. 512).
        Airliner growth of another sort is also in the city's sights, with new gate and terminal facilities on the agenda of San Antonio International Airport. The first phase, a $28.6-million terminal renovation, is nearly complete, and is to be followed by the addition of a new terminal, gates and eventual parking and airfield expansion projects.