T-hangar conundrum still plaguing airport board

Chicago Executive Airport has a T-hangar dilemma that just won't go away.

Airport users are asking for more hangars, but the cost of building is much higher than customers may will be willing to pay in rent.

The board on Wednesday decided to do a market study to see how many buildings would be viable in the area. The board also discussed having a private developer build the T-hangars; however, that was put on hold until the study comes back with results.

"To take on another debt with T-hangars is probably not a wise thing to do right now," airport manager Dennis Rouleau said.

Board member Luis Mendez agreed, saying the airport, co-owned by Prospect Heights and Wheeling, will have to pay for the buildings regardless, even if nobody rents the property.

If the hangars aren't built, however, the airport also runs the risk of losing potential income from renters.

Rouleau said the market right now calls for $500 to $600 a month in rent. The board has discussed building 16 hangars at about $1.6 million, and he said there would probably be an issue filling all of those up.

Board member David Kolssak said the board has been talking about the hangars for months now, and it keeps coming back to the same conclusion.

He said he didn't want to keep going over the same discussion unless the board had new information available. He proposed the market study to see if a third party could come up with a better option.

The board will discuss the results of the study at a future meeting.