Proposed Development
An Introduction

Introduction

Plans for a proposed massive development at Hanscom for the North Airfield area near Hartwell Road in Bedford came to light in January 2023, as developers submitted details of their plans to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office.

The developer’s full plan: North Airfield Development Environmental Notification Form.

The proposed North Airfield development would:

  • add nearly 500,000 sf of hangar space on nearly 50 acres of land (equal to 38 football fields)

  • add 17 new hangars for the exclusive use of private luxury jets

  • add potentially 50-80 private luxury jets to the airfield

  • add new aviation fuel farm (near PFAS contamination site, currently undergoing remediation

  • add 36 acres of impervious pavement

  • clearcut acres of mature trees (destroying much need CO2 sequestration & wildlife buffer)

  • expand the Airport Layout Plan (ALP)

  • represent the single largest private jet expansion in Hanscom history, and possibly the nation

The map below shows the relationship of this project (footprint in red) to the Minute Man National Historical Park, the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, and Walden Pond:

Additional Background

The proponents of the project, Runway Realty Ventures, LLC, and North Airfield Ventures, LLC, claim they do not know how many private luxury jet flights will result from a tripling of hangar capacity. The project proponents do not assume any responsibility for the greenhouse gasses the resultant jet traffic will create.

Incredibly and confounding all common sense, the proponent argues without evidence that the resulting expected expansion of air traffic will reduce environmental impact and help achieve a net zero goal.  A single private jet flight to Europe generates more greenhouse gas emissions than a rural family in India does in an entire lifetime.       

The initial public comment period on the Environmental Notification Form for the plan closed on 2/14/23. See the formal Public Comments section on the MEPA Environmental Review page.

The current number of private jet hangars is 12. The proposal is to add 27, for a total of 39. A number of current hangars support transient aircraft and can hold more than one jet. The current private jet hangars total about 460,000 square feet and the proposed hangars total about 500,000 square feet. The relation between square feet and number of aircraft housed is not known.

NOTE:

A provision to increase the weight capacity of the nearby taxiway is contained in the Land Swap Agreement between Runway Realty Ventures, LLC, and Massport, but it is not included in the proposed development plan. Massport admits this provision is there but denies they will actually change the taxiway as part of this project.