ERMA – The Delaware River and Bay Authority has approved a tentative lease agreement with a company that plans to build a multisport domed facility at the Cape May County Airport.
The agreement allows Aviation Sports Complex LLC to create a sports complex under an approximately 80,000-square-foot dome that would house an indoor track, soccer field, lacrosse field, futsal court, golf simulators and areas for jujitsu and healthy heart classes, among other facilities.
The agreement, approved by the authority’s board of commissioners on Dec. 19, allows the company to lease approximately 3 acres for the complex.
Aviation Sports has agreed to pay the authority an annual rent of 25 cents per square foot for the 3-acre parcel, which would be $32,670 a year, as well as “transaction rent” of 4% of any sale of the facility, according to the agreement. The term of the lease is 20 years.
According to the agreement, the rent will increase each year by the Consumer Price Index amount. In 2022 the CPI increase was 3.2%, compared to 8.5% the year before. Over the year ended September 2023, the CPI was 3.7%. Rent will be adjusted at the beginning of years five, 10 and 15, and then to its fair market value.
Robert Buglak, who is developing the complex with his partner, attorney Jamie Sutton, said Sutton is working with the authority to come up with a final lease.
“We have been red-lining it to see if we are on the same page,” Buglak said.
He said that although the resolution described the land being leased as “about 3 acres,” the complex site has been moved to a location that is closer to 5 acres, which allows for an 80,000-square-foot dome.
The initial plan, he said, was to place the facility behind Cape May Brewing Company, and that brought the size down to about 68,000 square feet. The new plan locates the facility close to the water tower. He said this site allows for more parking and better traffic flow.
Buglak said Aviation Sports gave an informal presentation to the Lower Township Planning Board on Dec. 14, giving its members the opportunity to ask questions about the proposal, on issues such as parking, traffic flow, drainage and emergency exits. Township Manager Mike Laffey said he too would be interested in hearing the proposal.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
