The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport commission approved a 20-year lease with two 10-year extensions, to Bi-National Gateway Terminal LLC for a 49-acre site near one of the airport’s four runways. The company plans to build an international air-cargo handling facility, which when completed, will serve multimodal cargo needs and have the ability to handle perishables, live animals, high value shipments, express and general cargo with a focus on Mexico and Latin America.
The facility will be built in three phases with cargo coming into the airport in as few as 18-months. Construction will begin this summer, with completion of phase I within 30 months. It will consist of 500,000 square-feet of terminal, 1 million square-feet of cargo ramp and support infrastructure for airlines that use the facility.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Bi-National is investing US$77 million in the first phase which includes the cargo building. The initial development is expected to cover 32 acres. Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, the airport’s director, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and others traveled to Mexico last month to promote international cargo in St. Louis between the two countries. The goal is to provide an import-export center without delays and congestion.
“Lambert St. Louis is the ideal platform for this type of cargo operation, which exploits our strengths in terms of location and ease of intermodal connectivity with highways, rail and river,” said David Lancaster, cargo development director.
The Post-Dispatch said St. Louis has tried for years to launch an international cargo market in and out of Lambert. The project still must be approved by the St. Louis city council.