MD Helicopters, Mesa Weigh 25-Year Lease

MESA, AZ-Following several anxious months, MD Helicopters Inc. has reached an agreement with the City of Mesa to remain at Falcon Field Municipal Airport. If the deal is approved by city council Monday, the helicopter manufacturer will remain on its 46 acres through 2033 at the city airport.

MD Helicopters, acquired in 2005 by Patriarch Partners LLC of New York City, began looking at other locations for its manufacturing operations when escalation clauses in its Falcon Field lease kicked in during early 2007. The company, through various incarnations, has operated at the air field at 4800 E. Falcon Dr. since the early 1980s.

“We’d worked with the company for a lot of years to keep the rents down, but the company was running into financial problems when they were acquired,” William Jabjinak, Mesa’s economic development director, tells GlobeSt.com. He says the lease escalations didn’t help the situation although the company is now operating in the black.