The Platte Valley Airpark includes a 2,200-square-foot rental home, a three-story observatory tower and a 6,000-square-foot main hangar. (Photos courtesy Travis Woolford)
The owners of a private airport 20 minutes from Denver as the plane flies have listed the property for sale for $4.1 million.
The 200-acre Platte Valley Airpark in Fort Lupton is three miles northeast of Hudson and 40 miles northeast of Denver. The property includes a three-story tower and 6,000-square-foot hangar.
Thirteen aviators purchased the property amid farmland in 1992 when it was only a hangar and a dirt strip to land a small plane.
Kevin Kennelly, one of the Platte Valley Airpark shareholders, called the airpark a passion project and said the aviator owners didn’t focus on turning it into a money-making venture.
“We wanted to maintain a privately owned operation without the bureaucratic problems that publicly owned airports face,” he said.
The original shareholders are ready to retire; some have died and bequeathed their shares.
He hopes the new owners will continue the 30-plus-years tradition.
“Part of the dream of owning your own plane is owning your own airport,” Kennelly said. “I hope the new owners can keep it as an economical place for people to learn to fly and keep airplanes without all the complications.”
Les Pfenning and Josh Jackson of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty and Rick Robinson of Space Commercial Real Estate represent the sellers. The realtors say the property would be ideal for an individual or group of investors who want to open a fixed-base aviation operation.
Jackson said that a potential new owner could apply for money from the FAA to develop and improve the airpark. The current owners chose not to do so.
“They are bootstrappers who wanted to maintain their autonomy,” he said.
Robinson said that development in Weld County, including Rodeo Dunes, a destination golf course under development in Roggen, makes the airpark site more attractive.
New owners could add hangars, expand the flight school or create other businesses like an onsite mechanic.
“This could be a development opportunity for the right person,” Pfenning said. “It’s a potential treasure chest. I don’t know of any other airport for sale in Colorado.”
