AFCO raises $36m for new BWI air cargo facility

The real estate arm of US-based Aviation Facilities Company Management (AFCO) secured upwards of $36 million in financing for a new air cargo facility under construction at Baltimore International Airport (BWI).

AFCO said the funds will finance the construction of a 200,000-square-foot air cargo facility and a 450,000-square-foot aircraft parking apron. Completion of these projects is expected by October 2019, the company said in a release.

The transaction also resulted in the establishment of AFCO Airport Real Estate Group (AFCO AREG), a new financing vehicle for AFCO.

“We are very pleased to successfully close on the bond sale and establish this creative financing vehicle,” said AFCO President & CEO Chuck Stipancic. “Not only was the financing important for our BWI project, but AFCO AREG is another tool in our toolbox for delivering efficient, flexible and cost-effective financing solutions on future airport infrastructure projects,” he stated.

Financing for the projects come from the sale of Series 2019 Airport Revenue Bonds issued by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation as part of an expandable obligated group structure, which allows the organization to combine multiple business assets to create a single entity.

Meanwhile, AFCO AREG was created to fund the BWI project and to provide a source of debt financing for AFCO’s ongoing portfolio growth program focused on the acquisition and development of on-airport projects throughout the U.S.