Medical transportation provider CareFlite will have a new home in Denton this August, where it will lease space in a brand-new hangar at Denton Enterprise Airport.
CareFlite will occupy 715 square feet of office space and 4,160 square feet of hangar space to house a helicopter and about 12 employees, said Jim Swartz, CareFlite president and CEO.
“This, I think, is an important service for this community and the whole metroplex,” said Quentin Hix, director of aviation at the airport. “When they open their doors, they will man their facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a staff of paramedics that provide even quicker access. ... We’ll have that much more of a safety margin.”
The facility will begin operation in August, once construction of the hangar is complete. The hangar is owned and operated by HTA Aviation, an aviation services company, and will serve as the company’s new headquarters. It will include a 10,400-square-foot hangar and about 2,000 square feet of office space, said Steve Brown, vice president of HTA Aviation.
“We’ve basically outgrown the little place we’re at in Roanoke, so that’s one of the reasons we’re going to relocate our headquarters to Denton Enterprise Airport,” Brown said. “One of the main reasons is just proximity, and we really think the Denton airport is a great place to be — it will only grow and get better.”
The company is owned by Brown’s wife, Sara, and the couple operates a second aviation business, Aircraft Door Seals LLC, which will also relocate to the new hangar. The facility will allow both businesses more room to grow, which Hix says makes the Browns ideal tenants in the airport.
“We do anticipate continuing development in that area [of the airport], so HTA being the lead tenant is an excellent addition for us,” Hix said. “And coming in with this facility, we expect them to expand and grow that business to where it’s even bigger and more beneficial to the airport in terms of fuel sales, land leases and development for the airport.”
On Friday, construction crews began erecting the steel to create the framework of the facility, which is following Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards as much as possible to make the building energy efficient. The construction is about 20 percent complete, Brown said.
The hangar will use a radiant floor heating system and will also have drains, sprinklers, high-efficiency air conditioning and lighting.
“We’re trying to make it as energy efficient as possible while making it,” Brown said.
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and via Twitter at @JennaFDuncan.
