Costs to build a hangar

[mandm]

Just wondering if anyone recently built a hangar and the approx costs. I searched on Google and it said $15-25 per sqft but then looking at some forums said this is fantasy land. I really have no idea of costs and am curious. The photo below is of a 50x60 box hangar to give an idea of what I think would be nice. Ideally the hangar would be insulated, heated and decent with a living room, wall of windows to view the runway, full bathroom and kitchen area. The hangar would ideally fit 3 planes easily plus a few vehicles and a storage area for tools.

 

[Daleandee]

I see you're in Chicago. I hear there's a nice hangar and a beautiful Cessna 310 for sale at ARR.

As to the cost of your dream hangar ... I have no idea but $25.00 a sqft does seem like fantasy land. I recently purchased a built hangar at a small grass runway. It's basically a metal building sitting on a nice slab but it doesn't (yet) have a lot of amenities. But it was a pretty good deal and the goodies can/will be added later.

I'm guessing that you have land to build on or are you are looking to build at an airpark?

 

[murphey]

1) Where?
2) How easy is it to get materials to the site?
3) What type of hangar?
4) How much $$$ do you have?

At an airpark in SW Colorado, more than an hour's drive to the nearest Safeway, box hangar on concrete slab with insulation, water & power is $90K.

 

[midwestpa24]

From what I've seen around here, you would be closer to $100 sq foot or higher.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Ideally the hangar would be insulated, heated and decent with a living room, wall of windows to view the runway, full bathroom and kitchen area.

Every one of those things should add a lot to the cost as compared to a plain metal box. And this is where the whole "dollars per square foot" concept falls flat on it's face.
How far is it to the nearest water /sewer? Will you be going through dirt or busting up a concrete ramp?
Windows are expensive.

You are probably closer to residential pricing than pole barn...

 

[kmacht]

A simple square metal box 75k or $25 a square foot is reasonable. The problem is that doesnt include the cost of the land, insulation, heat, anything fancier than a manual sliding door, water, electric, windows, or anything else. People dont want just a hanger to cover their plane with. They want essentially a metal house to put their plane in with all the amenities that come with a house.

 

[Wagondriver]

Consider that where I live, the cost of the concrete floor alone will be in the $6.50 to $8.00 per sqft range.
I would guess on a hangar around here, for what you describe you would be looking at around $225 per foot. I have 34 years experience in residential construction, and just recently remodeled a steel building into two apartments over two commercial spaces. I also own a steel hangar. I would never build a steel hangar if my plan was to have it as you describe. Steel buildings even when insulated are very inefficient to heat, and to finish off the inside like a house, you basically have to build a wood structure inside of the metal building.
When I build a new hangar for myself it will be of wood construction with a self supporting door.

 

[mondtster]

My friend’s 100x100 heated box hangar with no interior improvements cost $300k to build, 4 or 5 years ago. We live out in the sticks too, I expect prices will be higher in a metro area.

That was just for the building. I don’t know how much he spent on attorney fees to get the city and airport manager to understand the grant assurances that they agreed to. It took 2.5 years before construction could even begin.

 

[kaiser]

There are 3 spots that have been surveyed at 06C for new hangars. Word on the street is that the airport won’t develop it, though they’d likely approve individual developers to build. Row of 20 T hangars was quoted at ~1.5m. I don’t recall exactly. It’s be pretty easy to lob a few off the end for this and rent out the rest.

 

[midwestpa24]

There are 3 spots that have been surveyed at 06C for new hangars. Word on the street is that the airport won’t develop it, though they’d likely approve individual developers to build. Row of 20 T hangars was quoted at ~1.5m. I don’t recall exactly. It’s be pretty easy to lob a few off the end for this and rent out the rest.

That's not uncommon these days. Hangars are actually hard for airports to fund. Many grant programs either exclude or at least limit participation in hangars, or don't provide enough money to pay for an entire hangar. Despite demand, often times the going rental rate doesn't provide enough ROI to make the case to borrow the money. It can be a lot cheaper and easier for a private individual to build a hangar, than it cost the "government" to build the same hangar with all the extra legal requirements and hoops that must be jumped through.

A row of 20 T-hangars for $1.5 M actually sounds like a deal compared to what I recently was quoted.

 

[weilke]

Row of 20 T hangars was quoted at ~1.5m. I don’t recall exactly. It’s be pretty easy to lob a few off the end for this and rent out the rest.

Twice that if the government bids it. But then, it'll be LEED tin certified with ADA bathrooms.

 

[midwestpa24]

Twice that if the government bids it. But then, it'll be LEED tin certified with ADA bathrooms.

That's not even the half of it. We have to spend money making sure there are no wetlands, burial grounds, or endangered species that live in the project footprint. We have to make sure all contractors are paying Davis-Bacon wage rates to their employees, have to make sure contractors use DBE sub-contractors when able, make sure the steel and all components meet Buy American clauses, etc. You wouldn't believe the hurdles we have to go through.

 

[weilke]

That's not even the half of it. We have to spend money making sure there are no wetlands, burial grounds, or endangered species that live in the project footprint. We have to make sure all contractors are paying Davis-Bacon wage rates to their employees, have to make sure contractors use DBE sub-contractors when able, make sure the steel and all components meet Buy American clauses, etc. You wouldn't believe the hurdles we have to go through.

Oh, I know, that's why I wrote it. After it posted I noticed that you had said the same in the interim.

Took me a while until I understood why airports have private developers build hangars. Never made sense for the airport to lose out on this steady source of revenue until someone on the airport commission broke it down.

Same for every other infrastructure project. The 'All Aboard' train in FL had to provide a mitigation plan for an eagles nest. A nest that sits on top of a light tower in economy parking at MCO......

 

[masloki]

Finally, someone posted about hangars in Hangar Talk.