More than two years have passed since the Federal Aviation Administration declined to approve
the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority's (SMAA) proposed sale of approximately 31 acres of
airport land to the State of Florida for the benefit of New College.

Much has changed since then.

New College has acquired substantial additional property for its future growth. Sarasota
Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) continues to grow. SRQ has new executive leadership
and is undertaking a new airport master plan that should provide better information about its
long-term land requirements.

One thing, however, remains unresolved.

SMAA has not publicly stated that it has abandoned the possibility of selling this airport land to
New College and the State of Florida.

I believe it is time for the Airport Authority to do so.

The Original Reason for the Sale Has Changed

New College's desire to purchase the airport property was understandable.

The college occupies the property under a lease that expires in 2056. As that date approaches,
New College faces increasing uncertainty about making major, long-term investments in
buildings and other improvements on land it does not own.

Ownership would eliminate that uncertainty.

But circumstances have changed dramatically since the proposed sale was negotiated.

In February 2024, Manatee County donated approximately nine acres to New College at no cost.

That property adjoins the former University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Then, in 2026, the State transferred the adjoining USF Sarasota-Manatee campus property and
facilities to New College. The former USF-SM campus contains approximately 32 acres.

Together, these properties provide New College with approximately 47 contiguous acres for
institutional planning and future development outside the airport leasehold.

New College's alternatives can change. They already have.

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The Airport's Situation Is Different

For New College, acquiring the airport land was one way to preserve future options.

For SMAA, selling the property would do the opposite.

It would permanently eliminate an option.

No one today can know precisely what Sarasota Bradenton International Airport needs will be in
2056 and beyond. Future airport leaders may need this property for terminal-related
development, parking, airport access, aviation businesses, support facilities, new air
transportation operations, or airport uses that cannot reasonably be predicted today.

That uncertainty is not an argument for selling the property.

It is an argument for keeping it.

The important question is not whether SMAA can identify today exactly what airport facility will
someday occupy these 31 acres.

The more important question is:

Can SMAA be sufficiently confident today that no future airport leadership will wish this
land had been retained?

For approximately 31 acres on a growing commercial airport, I do not believe anyone can
responsibly provide that assurance.

This Is Not Primarily About the Sale Price

Much attention has been given to whether the original proposed purchase price was adequate and
what subsequent appraisals say the property is worth.

Those questions are legitimate, but they are not the principal concern.

Whether the State pays $10 million, $11.5 million, $33.8 million, or some other amount does not
answer the fundamental question of whether SMAA should permanently sell this property at all.

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You can usually find another source of money. You cannot manufacture another 31-acre
parcel on your airport when you discover decades later that you need it.

Whatever amount SMAA receives will eventually be spent. It may be spent wisely on legitimate
airport improvements. But after the money has been spent, that land will still belong to someone
else.

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The airport does not merely need the equivalent value of 31 acres somewhere else in Sarasota or
Manatee County.

It may someday need those particular 31 acres in that particular location.

If that day comes, future airport leaders may find that reacquiring the property is prohibitively
expensive, politically impossible, or simply not an option.

That is why receiving fair market value and making a prudent airport-property decision are two
different things.

A property can be sold for its full appraised value and still be property the airport regrets selling
forever.

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What Happened After 2023 Demonstrates the Value of Waiting

Consider how much changed in less than three years.

When the sale was proposed, New College wanted permanent ownership of the airport property,
in part because of uncertainty about its long-term growth.

Then Manatee County donated nine acres of undeveloped land to New College.

Then the State transferred the adjoining approximately 32-acre USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to
New College.

New College now has approximately 41 contiguous acres in that area that it did not control when
the airport sale was originally conceived.

Meanwhile, SRQ passenger traffic continues to increase, and they are updating the airport master
plan.

Had the FAA approved the proposed sale, and had the sale closed in 2024, SMAA's decision
would have been permanent before these changed circumstances could be fully considered.

That sequence demonstrates the value of not making an irreversible decision before
circumstances require one.

There was no need for SMAA to predict in 2023 exactly what would happen by 2026.

There is likewise no need today for SMAA to predict exactly what SRQ will need in 2056.

Keeping the land preserves the ability to make decisions as circumstances become clearer.

Selling it does not.

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We Have Seen This Problem Before

There is an important lesson in the history of this very property.

In 1957, airport leaders agreed to lease this same land for 99 years.

They could not possibly have known what Sarasota Bradenton International Airport would
become seven decades later. They could not have foreseen today's passenger volumes, terminal
facilities, parking requirements, rental-car operations, security requirements, roadway systems or
the extraordinary population growth of the Sarasota-Manatee region.

The decision they made nevertheless constrained airport leaders for generations.

But there is one crucial difference between that decision and the proposed sale.

The 1957 board temporarily surrendered control for 99 years. The 2023 proposal would
have surrendered ownership forever.

At least the existing lease has an ending.

Future airport leaders know that, unless another agreement is made, the lease expires in 2056.

Had the proposed sale been completed, future airport leaders could only say that SRQ once
owned the property.

We should learn from the 1957 decision rather than create an even more permanent version of it.

The FAA Has Already Given SMAA an Opportunity to Reconsider

The FAA's April 10, 2024 decision prevented the proposed sale from proceeding.

That decision did not harm SMAA's ownership interest.

Quite the opposite: the airport still owns the land.

SMAA therefore retains something extremely valuable—the ability to decide differently as
circumstances change.

There has been public discussion since the FAA decision about whether another proposal,
potentially involving a higher purchase price, might eventually be presented to the FAA and be
approved by new FAA appointees in Washington.

I believe SMAA and New College should end those efforts.

The central problem with the proposed sale was never simply the price.

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A higher price does not create another 31-acre parcel near the terminal buildings.

A new appraisal does not eliminate the airport's future uncertainty.

And another proposal to the FAA does not change the permanent nature of selling the property.

The better course is much simpler:

Keep the airport land.

It Is Time for a Public Decision

The members of the Airport Authority who supported the proposed transaction in 2023 and 2024
do not need to admit that their earlier decision was wrong.

Circumstances have changed.

New College now controls substantially more land.

SRQ passenger traffic is forecasted to continue growing.

A new airport master plan is underway to address that future growth.

And SMAA has a new President and CEO, Paul Hoback, who was not responsible for initiating
the original proposed sale.

Those developments provide ample reason to reconsider the issue without revisiting every
decision made in 2023 and 2024.

But reconsideration should now lead to a conclusion.

For more than two years, the possibility that SMAA might submit another proposal to the FAA
has left this matter unresolved.

That uncertainty serves little purpose.

It encourages New College and state officials to continue believing that the airport property may
eventually be sold to them.

It leaves the public uncertain about SMAA's intentions.

And it prevents everyone involved from moving on to more productive questions, including how
New College should use its expanded land holdings and how SRQ should plan for its
extraordinary long-term growth.

SMAA can end that uncertainty with a straightforward public statement:

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The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority has ceased efforts to obtain FAA approval to sell
the approximately 31 acres leased to New College, and the property is no longer available
for sale.

Such a statement will not prevent future generations from reconsidering the property if
circumstances someday change dramatically.

It would simply establish SMAA's policy today:

SRQ intends to keep its airport land.

A Question for the Airport Authority

New College understandably sought permanent ownership because ownership would give the
college greater certainty and preserve its future options.

But SMAA has a different responsibility.

Its responsibility is to preserve the ability of future airport leaders to respond to needs that cannot
yet be known.

Keeping the property leaves options open.

Selling it closes one forever.

And the events since 2023 demonstrate how quickly circumstances can change and why it is
better for public institutions to resist making irreversible decisions prematurely.

So, before SMAA spends additional time trying to persuade the FAA to consider another
proposal to sell this property, I hope each Airport Authority commissioner and the President and
CEO will consider one question:

Can SMAA be sufficiently confident today that no future airport leadership will wish this
land had been retained?

If the answer is no, there is no reason to continue pursuing another sale.

Keep the land.

Tell New College and the State that it is no longer available for purchase.

Tell the FAA that SMAA is no longer pursuing its release for sale.

And tell the Sarasota-Manatee community that this issue is finally over.