United Therapeutics Expansion Includes New Hangar at Concord Airport
Feb. 28—United Therapeutics wants to build a hangar at Concord Municipal Airport for its corporate jet and other aircraft as the company expands its research and development of 3D-printed human organs in Manchester's Millyard.
The Maryland-based corporation is in the middle of renovating a 80,000-square-foot mill building on Commercial Street in Manchester for more than $26 million, according to city building permits.
The hangar would be built at 34 Regional Drive in Concord, about 20 miles away from the Millyard, and would include space for four or five aircraft. One will be a Gulfstream G600 jet, which has a wingspan of nearly 100 feet, according to Matthew Walsh, Concord's deputy city manager for community development.
Walsh told the zoning board last month the city will enter into a lease with the company. The revenues will help support the airport, including future capital improvements, he said.
"We are looking forward to United Therapeutics having a presence here," Walsh told the zoning board. "The benefits to the community are going to be tremendous."
United Therapeutics received a variance from the zoning board to build the 35,683-square-foot hangar at 58 feet — 3 feet above the allowed height. That will permit the structure to be built with environmentally sustainable laminated wood trusses rather thansteel.
The company declined to comment on its plans for the hangar.
A public hearing is set to take place with the city council to lease the 2.88-acre parcel on March 13. The planning board will hear the plans on March 15.
Expanding in NH
The publicly traded biotechnology company is renovating the 74,560-square-foot mill at 100 Commercial St. in Manchester. Part of the building has been used by the company's Organ Manufacturing Group since 2017 in conjunction with the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, spearheaded by inventor Dean Kamen.
The company was founded in 1996 by Martine Rothblatt, who also created Sirius Satellite Radio, and has more than $6 billion in total assets. It became the first public biotech or pharmaceutical company to become a public benefit corporation.
The goal of the Organ Manufacturing Group is to build patient-specific organs. The company hopes to have an unlimited supply of organs for human transplant by 2030.
Company officials have previously said about 90 people will work out of the lab space.
The lease for the mill building — known as Gateway III — runs until July 31, 2027, with five-year renewal options for up to 25 years. The company has the right of first offer to purchase the property, according to Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds documents.
The $26 million project encompasses the entire property. Much of the work is converting office space to labs.
The first three floors will include space for cell analytics, cell production, printing, tissue culture pre-production and wet labs, according to the plans submitted to the city.
The fourth floor will include conference rooms, 84 workstations, collaborative space and a café, according to the plans.
Airport plans
The proposed United Therapeutics hangar will be adjacent to the National Guard hangar, according to the plans. The development will cost in excess of $20 million, according to city officials.
It's expected to house a mix of jets, turboprop planes and helicopters.
United Therapeutics has also invested in companies making electric vertical aviation aircraft to eventually be used as air taxis to transport its synthetic organs for human transplant, but it's unknown if the hangar will support that effort. A vertiport — or landing pad — is planned for the Millyard.
United Therapeutics has at least two other hangars, including Tipton Airport in Fort Meade, Maryland, and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.
The Concord Municipal Airport, established in 1918, has about 100 aircraft based on site, according to the city.
The lease, which is expected to start on April 1, will run for 20 years with options for four five-year renewals for a total of 40 years. The lease will bring in $43,800 in the first year and increase 3% each year.
The company will also pay $102,265 to $141,573 in property taxes annually, according to a memo Walsh wrote to the city council.
"Rent was established based upon a market survey, and is consistent with current lease rates at the Pease International TradePort," Walsh wrote. "Rent associated with this lease will be in the upper echelon of those currently paid at the Concord Airport, and will serve as a benchmark for future leases for other Development Zones at the property."
The proposed site plan is designed to facilitate an additional hangar in the future to meet the company's long-term needs.
"UTC is one of the world's premiere biotechnology companies," Walsh wrote in the memo. "The city has long desired to attract such businesses to the community. UTC's presence in Concord advances this long-standing goal."
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