A massive, mostly vacant land parcel beside Philadelphia International Airport could become a bustling shipping hub for everything from medicine to car parts under a plan to develop the site into a new air-freight complex serving a swath of the northeastern United States.

The airport last month acquired control of the so-called Henderson Tract, which sprawls 135 acres — an area similar in size to the entire King of Prussia Mall and its parking lots — to the immediate west of its passenger terminals.

The move caps a years-long battle over the fate of the property in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, and is a first step by Philadelphia toward cashing in on its location among some of the nation’s biggest population centers in hopes of becoming a major air-freight power.

Up for grabs could be an estimated $50 billion in air-cargo business generated in the Philadelphia region, all but 9 percent of which is now lost to airports to the south, in Baltimore and Washington, and to the north, in New York and Newark, N.J., because Philadelphia doesn’t have the capacity to take it on, said James Tyrrell, the airport’s chief revenue officer.

Despite its name, the area to the northeast of the Henderson land known as Cargo City is mostly used for purposes other than shipping, such as American Airlines Inc.’s catering facility, Tyrrell said.

“We have not been involved, for all intents and purposes, in the cargo business,” he said. “And we want to get involved.”

The city took possession of the Henderson property on Jan. 19 for $54.5 million in compensation after settling litigation over past efforts to condemn the land for airport use, an airport spokeswoman said.

The city could wind up paying more to the property’s former owners, the Henderson Group development company and related entities, if a panel to be convened by the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas determines that its fair market value is higher.

Henderson representatives have in the past accused the city of trying to acquire the land, undeveloped but for two now-vacant industrial buildings, for less than its actual value. Henderson Group spokesman Kevin Feeley declined last week to comment on the deal with the city.

The land’s acquisition — like all airport activities — is being financed through fees paid by airlines to use the facility, as will its redevelopment at a cost that is yet to be established, Tyrell said.

Tyrrell said that it was not yet clear what form the air-cargo facility would take but that there appears to be demand among shippers for facilities with space to park planes near warehouses for easy loading and unloading.

A mid-January workshop held to present the site to potential future users was attended by representatives of FedEx Corp. and of Amazon Air, the growing air-shipping subsidiary of the e-commerce giant with a hub in Hebron, Ky., near Cincinnati, among others, Tyrrell said.

“We’re looking for the leaders in the industry to tell us how we can take advantage of this opportunity,” he said.

A message left with FedEx was not returned. An Amazon spokesman said he had no details to provide about the company’s interest in Philadelphia’s air-shipping expansion.

The air-freight company with the most significant current Philadelphia foothold is United Parcel Service Inc., which employs 3,100 at a hub on 212 acres along Hog Island Road. It includes a 681,000-square-foot sorting building and a 50-acre aircraft ramp.

Brandon Stallard, chief executive of Troy, Mich.-based supply chain management company TPS Logistics, said he can imagine the facility being used by pharmaceutical companies to rush drugs to market or by car manufacturers speeding auto equipment from cargo ships to their final U.S. destinations during recalls.

“There’s just a heck of a lot of volume that happens on the East Coast,” said Stallard, who is not involved with the proposal.

Airport officials are beginning preliminary work on the project, such as determining whether any environmental remediation or wetland habitat restoration work will be needed, Tyrell said. The project also will require working with Delaware County and Tinicum Township to relocate Tinicum Island Road, which separates the Henderson land from the airport itself.

Harold Epps, director of the city’s Commerce Department, which operates the airport, said he sees the air-freight expansion plan, along with the deepening of the Delaware River navigation channel and updates to the Port of Philadelphia’s terminals, as part of a larger effort to take advantage of the city’s central location along the mid-Atlantic Seaboard.

With flight paths and shipping lanes much less crowded than those in the New York and Washington areas, Philadelphia should be an attractive gateway to the densely populated region, Epps said.

“We have just under-leveraged our location and our assets at both ports, and now we’re beginning to recognize the value they can add to the supply chain,” Epps said. “Our location gives us a significant capability to be a feeder for the region and the rest of the state.”

usairways85 wrote:

Interesting development. I believe this land was supposed to be dedicated to the relocation of the UPS facility. But with the additional runway project on permanent hold and your previous posts that sound like UPS is expanding it's current footprint I guess the airport wanted to see how else they could use the land. Outside of UPS, PHL's cargo facilities are pretty minimal. Even Fedex only has room to park ~4 aircraft.

leader1 wrote:

Not sure how this would play into this, but isn't Philadelphia still on the shortlist for Amazon's HQ2? This could be a way of bolstering the city's bid.

leader1 wrote:

Not sure how this would play into this, but isn't Philadelphia still on the shortlist for Amazon's HQ2? This could be a way of bolstering the city's bid.

ikramerica wrote:

leader1 wrote:

Not sure how this would play into this, but isn't Philadelphia still on the shortlist for Amazon's HQ2? This could be a way of bolstering the city's bid.

HQ2 is going to be in a state with low or no taxes, not a high tax location like philly. North West Dallas/Fort Worth is a good bet...

This gives them lots of breathing room for growth - they could expand new cargo into the space, move UPS there and put in an additional runway (or use it to replace 27R), they could move economy parking there and add a Terminal G AND move most of the Cargo City facilities there to put in add a large satellite to terminal A.

crownvic wrote:

Are there any maps to show this parcel? Apparently, you have to be a subscriber. As we know, PHL is restricted to the south by the fuel docks/Delaware River. I thought the area north of the terminals (and to the south) is part of the wetlands that are also protected, causing impeding of further airport development?

r2rho wrote:

This gives them lots of breathing room for growth - they could expand new cargo into the space, move UPS there and put in an additional runway (or use it to replace 27R), they could move economy parking there and add a Terminal G AND move most of the Cargo City facilities there to put in add a large satellite to terminal A.

I agree - more land buys them more flexibility for expanding in the future in various ways, as you propose. That to me is much more important for PHL in the long term than whatever additional cargo is handled (which is a good short term benefit). What you are proposing makes a lot of sense.

usairways85 wrote:

crownvic wrote:

Are there any maps to show this parcel? Apparently, you have to be a subscriber. As we know, PHL is restricted to the south by the fuel docks/Delaware River. I thought the area north of the terminals (and to the south) is part of the wetlands that are also protected, causing impeding of further airport development?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Philadelphia+International+Airport/@39.8680532,-75.2692152,1127m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c6c46660a9832f:0x3e2e15944637d3d8!8m2!3d39.8743959!4d-75.2424229

Immediately adjacent to the FedEx facility

usairways85 wrote:

crownvic wrote:

Are there any maps to show this parcel? Apparently, you have to be a subscriber. As we know, PHL is restricted to the south by the fuel docks/Delaware River. I thought the area north of the terminals (and to the south) is part of the wetlands that are also protected, causing impeding of further airport development?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Philadelphia+International+Airport/@39.8680532,-75.2692152,1127m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c6c46660a9832f:0x3e2e15944637d3d8!8m2!3d39.8743959!4d-75.2424229

Immediately adjacent to the FedEx facility

OslPhlWasChi wrote:

Can anyone confirm if PHL has already acquired International Plaza (the office park just west of Terminal A-West)?
I thought they had but am not sure.

If so, they should have contiguous land control now from Terminal A-West all the way to the existing developed areas in Tinicum Township west of the newly acquired parcel. And exactly as yall mention - there is unbelievable long-term potential.

WPvsMW wrote:

Between FX and 5X, any major expansion is more likely via 5X, since FX is currently expanding its hubs at IND and MEM.
https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/new ... e-and.html

5X growth at PHL is iffy, given's 5X' current expansion at ONT and EMA.
https://www.pressroom.ups.com/pressroom ... 950312-666
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news ... 14m-793091

Adding the Henderson tract is a certainly a plus, but the airport authority's Plan B (one without FX or 5X) better be good.

OslPhlWasChi wrote:

leader1 wrote:

Not sure how this would play into this, but isn't Philadelphia still on the shortlist for Amazon's HQ2? This could be a way of bolstering the city's bid.

I am highly skeptical the ability of PHL to accommodate new cargo facilities would have any impact on Philadelphia's HQ2 bid based on the timing of this with the selection process, cargo facilities not being a part of the selection criteria, and Amazon's corporate and cargo facilities historically being in completely different locations without issue.

You do bring up a good point in terms of Amazon's potential cargo expansion as a candidate for new cargo facilities on this parcel - independent of whether or not Amazon picks Philadelphia for HQ2.

lightsaber wrote:

With tax relief and a cargo hub, it could be a boost for HQ2. Amazon wants sorting centers and a cargo hub co-located. Is the plot of land big enough? Is the road access sufficient for a flood of Amazon trucks?

I would bet this land is for trying to attract Amazon...

Notice I said trying. I have no insight currently into Amazon's cargo hub plans or HQ2 goals other than the normal press and PR.

Lightsaber