Buyer interest at SilverWing picks up

SANDPOINT — Buyer interest is gaining loft at SilverWing at Sandpoint, a luxury fly-in residential development at Sandpoint Airport.

A model unit of the development’s hybrid hangar homes was completed last December and has several interested buyers in negotiations to purchase it, according to SilverWing. Multiple lots, along with a shell building, have also entered escrow.

“We have been very pleased with the level of interest we’ve seen from potential buyers since we announced this project in 2008,” SilverWing President John McKeown said in a news release. “While we’ve been able to show prospective buyers the development plans as well as our ongoing progress, having a completed model home available will definitely increase interest.”

The 18-acre, 44-lot development on the west side of the airport features homes with ground-level hangars topped with a residential living space. Lot prices range from the range from $300,000 to $900,000.

SilverWing’s announcement follows the company’s decision to pull out of negotiations with Bonner County, which was looking to buy the entire project with federal funding to essentially block it from being developed as a residential use and steer it toward a commercial use.

The Federal Aviation Administration contends that a residential development with through-the-fence access to the airport is contrary to grant assurances connected to airport improvement funding it provides.

The county embarked on the effort last fall and the FAA has not reached a decision whether provide the funding for the purchase, said Sandpoint Airport Advisory Board Chairman Chris Popov.

Even if people start taking up residence at SilverWing, Popov said that does not automatically put the county’s purchase plan into a nosedive. It would, however, complicate matters since the county would have to negotiate with people who bought into project in addition to SilverWing.

“We’re not in any better or worse situation than before,” he said.

Meanwhile, political support appears to be building for federal legislation which would bar the FAA from regarding through-the-fence access a violation of grant assurances.

Brent Blue of ThroughTheFence.org said announced on Thursday that the proposed legislation has the support of Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa.

“This correction of FAA policy will help maintain the viability of small airports by encouraging use while supporting safety and security,” Blue said in a statement.

Popov has doubts the legislation would be a cure-all because a vast majority of the FAA funding would still be discretionary. The county, for instance, is entitled to $150,000 year in federal funding — enough to do routine improvements.

Replacing runways or building taxiways takes millions of dollars in discretionary funding.

 “If you don’t work with the FAA and the funding is discretionary, and they have 100 airports that they have to fund, you’re airport No. 101. That’s just the way it works,” said Popov.

County commissioners have been mending fences with the FAA and trying to resolve grant assurance violations through a corrective action plan, work which Popov expects to continue.

A 2008 study conducted by the state estimated that Sandpoint Airport brings $30 million in economic gains to the county every year. Popov figures that estimate has easily doubled as production at Quest Aviation increases.

“You need to have access to federal dollars in order to keep that airport up,” he said. “In my mind, you can’t let an asset like that go to seed.”