Positive Economic Sign: Rental Car Facility Construction Starts Back Up

At least 1,000 workers expected to be employed by year’s end

With an estimated 3,000 jobs connected to the project, the Port of Seattle, the City of SeaTac, Turner Construction and representatives from the Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council and King County Labor Council today officially re-started the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Consolidated Rental Car Facility at the site of the project.

“The Port of Seattle’s mission is to create economic vitality,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton. “One of the ways we do that is by building transportation infrastructure in the region. This project provides family wage jobs for our community members.”

Construction on the $419 million, 23-acre site will generate more than 3,000 local, family-wage jobs and nearly $2 million in tax revenue for the City of SeaTac over the life of the project. At least 1,000 jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2009. The facility is scheduled to open in spring of 2012.

"It's important to our workers, our contractors, and our vendors," said Lee Newgent, Executive Secretary, Seattle/King County Building and Construction Trades Council. "We thank the Port of Seattle Commission for their hard work and for getting us back to work on this project."

Scott Holbrook, VP of Operations Manager for Turner Construction said, "We are delighted to see the Rental Car Facility come back to life and to get our crews back on the site to finish this much-needed regional project. We have believed all along in the viability of this project and the fact that it was 'shovel ready' allowed our subcontractors to get back to work very quickly, providing an important boost to our regional economy and the families of the thousands of workers this project will touch."

The Consolidated Rental Car Facility will support all airport-related rental car operations at one convenient location. It is designed to meet the current and future demands of the traveling public. The facility will be a five-story structure that will greatly improve the size, space, and efficiency of rental car operations that are currently spread out from the main terminal garage and multiple off-site locations. In addition, the facility will open up two floors of public parking, more than 3,200 spaces, in the main terminal garage.

The project was temporarily suspended in December 2008 due to the meltdown in the global credit market. The Port of Seattle Commission approved the successful sale of $317 million in revenue bonds in late June in order to re-start the project.

A Customer Facility Charge (CFC) added to each car rental will pay for virtually the entire cost of the project, with the additional non-CFC costs covered through non-aeronautical revenue funds. A $4 per transaction day CFC started in February 2006. The CFC was increased to $5 per transaction day in July 2008. When the facility opens in spring 2012, the CFC is expected to be about $6, which is comparable to current major airports with consolidated rental facilities.