Local News in Brief : Commission OKs Rent Increase for Van Nuys Airport Tenants

The city Board of Airport Commissioners has tentatively approved an increase in the rent paid by most businesses operating at Van Nuys Airport, which airport administrators hope will eliminate the facility’s annual operating loss.

After four months of negotiations, the city Department of Airports and the Van Nuys Airport Assn. have agreed on an annual rate of $10,600 per acre for the next five years, an increase from the current $7,225, representatives of both groups told the board at its meeting this week. The city agency originally proposed an increase of more than $12,000 an acre.

The agreement covers members of the association, which represents most tenants who lease airport land, such as air taxi services and aircraft maintenance companies. The association includes 21 companies that lease 120 of the 166 acres available for lease by such businesses.

The commissioners forwarded the proposal to Mayor Tom Bradley, who must approve the increase before it is put into effect.

Van Nuys Airport lost $350,000 in operating costs out of an annual budget of $3.4 million in the fiscal year that ended last June, said airport spokesman Tom Winfrey. “If the mayor approves this rate increase, it would generate about $420,000 (in additional income), and that would put us in the black,” Winfrey said.