NEW YORK CITY—ARK Development—an affiliate of leading real estate company Racebrook Capital—has signed a 30-year lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to develop, finance, construct, operate and manage the ARK at JFK, a $48-million, 178,000-square-foot state-of-the-art animal handling and intelligent air cargo facility. The ARK will be the world's only privately owned animal handling cargo terminal and USDA-approved, full-service 24-hour airport quarantine facility for the import and export of horses, pets, birds, and livestock.
The ARK at JFK will be constructed at the current site of Cargo Building 78 at JFK, with 14.4 acres of surrounding ground area, which includes direct airside access to the taxiway and large aircraft ramp parking. It will be divided into three complementary sections: the air cargo wing, a central administrative and business center with 24-hour veterinary hospital, and the main animal handling facility with pet boarding, animal import and export center, and livestock export handling system.
“We developed the Ark concept to address the unmet needs for the import and export of companion, sporting and agricultural animals,” says the ARK at JFK founder and Racebrook chairman John J. Cuticelli, Jr. “The animal terminal will set new international airport standards for comprehensive veterinary, kenneling and quarantine services.”
The $48 million project will create more than 180 jobs and generate revenues for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey estimated at $108 million over the span of the project's 30-year lease.
“Redeveloping cargo infrastructure and growing the cargo pie at New York and New Jersey's airports is vital to supporting thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity for the region,” says Port Authority executive director Pat Foye. “ARK's investment of $48 million into JFK will transform an airport structure that has been vacant for nearly 10 years into a world-class specialty cargo facility, and the agreement guarantees the Port Authority more than $100 million in revenue without any additional capital investment.”
Financing will be facilitated by Build NYC, the city's conduit bond issuer, which will issue bonds underwritten by Goldman Sachs, as well as equity partner Westport Capital Partners and construction lender the Union Labor Life Insurance Co., Real Estate Investment Group.
“The Air Cargo industry at JFK is an important component of New York City's greater economy, directly responsible for over 17,000 jobs, and the ARK at JFK will help bolster JFK's competitive advantage as an international air cargo gateway, a major New York City Economic Development Corporation priority.” Jeffrey Lee, executive director of Build NYC.
Racebrook is subleasing approximately half of the facility to Consolidated Aviation Services, North America's leading air cargo ground handler, which will serve as the anchor tenant. CAS will handle non-animal airfreight for the terminal including the receipt, storage and distribution of air cargo.
In addition, Paradise 4 Paws will have 20,000-square-foot 24-hour pet resort with overnight accommodations for cats and dogs, dog daycare, grooming, training, and airport parking.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
