Online aviation real estate directory Hangar Network has rebranded as the Aviation Property Network (APN, Booth 3208) and launched a website that it is demonstrating this week at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas. When the company started in 2013, it moved past the traditional “bulletin board” listings through the use of a simple map-based interface that allowed users to search geographically for available aviation real estate at any airport in the U.S.
Improved functionality on the new website allows visitors to more tightly focus their listings or search for specific property-type availability, ranging from hangars and offices to FBOs and greenfield lots for development.
One popular feature, the company's national newsletter will remain, but APN will add regional flair with separate newsletters focusing on events, news, and opportunities in specific areas of the country. While the company has dealt specifically with U.S. airport real estate over the past eight years, it is now working with several European FBOs and property managers to extend its services across the Atlantic.
The website also features integration with the company’s Affiliate Broker Network, which leverages specialized aviation real estate professionals with knowledge of local market conditions to help acquire or dispose of airport properties. APN has also formalized a partnership with Aviation Management Consulting Group, to lead and manage its real estate appraiser program. The program will set an industry standard for aviation real estate appraisals, and APN affiliate appraisers will be required to meet specific experience and educational requirements.
"The business aviation industry is booming and experiencing substantial deliveries with airplanes that are growing in size," said APN managing director Iver Retrum. "The infrastructure is not there to handle them, and generational turnover has led to a market that has been largely overlooked in the past."
Retrum noted that the company and its aviation real estate specialists can help clients to find and transact property while extracting the most value out of it. To meet that growing demand, APN bolstered its staff with the addition of 12 licensed, experienced aviation real estate professionals.
Parent company Business Aviation Group's real estate development division has seen strong demand for infrastructure to support that growth in business aviation and as a result has contracted the construction of more than 500,000 sq ft of general aviation hangars, FBOs, and facilities in 2022, following on the development of more than 200,000 sq ft this year.
"We've been on the soapbox of real estate since our foundation," explained Barry Sherman, a partner in the company. "Realizing that FBOs and airports are a real estate play more than a fuel play is an important lesson." As aircraft become ever more fuel-efficient, he noted that the profit margin will tilt towards aviation real estate and services.
