$54 million private aviation complex breaks ground at the Carolina airport, where its hangar permits were approved in May and August

What the complex will hold

The plans call for a private aviation terminal, known as an FBO, an apron of about 275,000 square feet and more than 60,000 square feet of hangars in three units, El Vocero reported. El Nuevo Día, in a photo gallery of the project's renderings, puts the terminal at about 8,000 square feet and each of the three hangars at 20,000 square feet, and says the apron will serve 50 to 70 corporate, private and government aircraft and the complex will hold 60,000 gallons of fuel in three tanks. The terminal will have fueling, lounges, hangar rental and ground services, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection point so that international flights can clear customs at the facility.

The complex is being built on Apron 12, beside runway 10 on the south side of the airport, the outlets reported. The developers expect to finish construction in summer 2028 and to open in the fall of that year. About 30 jobs are expected during construction, 60 to 80 permanent direct jobs once it opens, and about 110 indirect jobs. The project has approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration, environmental agencies, the customs agency and Aerostar Airport Holdings, the airport operator; First BanCorp is financing it, according to El Nuevo Día and Wapa TV. Carolina's mayor called it a strategic investment for the city.

Four years in the permit record

The permit record places the project at South GA Apron 12 of the airport, on the airport property in barrio Cangrejo Arriba, Carolina, which covers 5,139,518 m2 (about 514 hectares). The company's file opened in August 2022. Its environmental determination was approved on October 26, 2022, a series of infrastructure reviews were approved between November 2022 and July 2026, and its consolidated construction permit has been under inspection since December 22, 2025.

Two filings for the hangars, described as two single-storey structures of structural steel, reinforced concrete and block for storing aircraft, were approved on May 7 and August 19, 2026. One more infrastructure request, filed on September 10, 2026, has no status yet.

Other hangars on the same airfield

The airport property drew 171 permit filings in the 12 months to October 20, 2026, of which 99 are approved. Among them, the airport operator's own Hangar 1, a 16,500 square foot hangar with a 2,500 square foot mezzanine for storing and maintaining aircraft and helicopters, cleared an infrastructure review on June 9, 2026, and two later filings for it are marked incomplete. A separate hangar at Apron 12 was filed on September 8, 2026, with no status yet. On the 51,424 m2 property next door, the electric utility's aviation hangar, with a warehouse, mechanics shop and offices over 4,777 m2, received its single permit on September 25, 2026.

What industrial property fetches in Carolina

The registry records five sales of industrial properties in Carolina since October 2024, from $300,000 to $5.1 million. The largest, an 11,264 m2 building on Carretera 3 in Trujillo Bajo, sold on February 6, 2026, for $5,100,000, about $453 per m2 of building. A 5,207 m2 property on Calle Marginal in Canovanillas sold for $1,920,000 on November 4, 2025.

Warehouses listed for sale in Carolina today ask from $587,000 for 453 m2 in Barrazas to $4,500,000 for about 4,200 m2 off Avenida Rosendo Vela Acosta. Only two warehouse rents in the city carry a usable ask: $6,675 a month for 497 m2 in Sabana Abajo and $2,441 a month for 223 m2 in Barrio Pueblo, about $11 to $13 per m2 a month. The listing table holds 37 commercial properties for sale and 25 for lease in Carolina, duplicates removed.