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March 7, 2000
For Release Upon Receipt

TAA BOARD APPROVES RENTAL CAR FACILITY FUNDING
The Tucson Airport Authority gave the nod to a loan from TAA's reserve funds to finance the construction of a $16.5 million rental car facility and parking structure. The project is the first phase of improvements to take place to the main terminal complex at Tucson International Airport.

Expected to go out for construction bids by mid-April, the rental car project consists of an approximately 18,000 sq. ft., single story building that will house Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, and National who were awarded five year contracts by the board in September 1999.

In addition, a three story parking structure that will hold appx. 2,000 vehicles will be built adjacent to the free standing building. The first two floors will be dedicated to rental car parking and the third floor will be used for employee parkers.

Financing for the rental car facility will be repaid over 20 years with interest only for the initial five years, followed by a 15 year amortization period. The interest rate will be established based on prevailing commercial rates.

Fees generated from seven rental car companies as well as from employee parking fees and customer facility charges will repay the loan. Rental car agencies will pay for the use of the new building as well as the number of ready/return stalls and vehicle storage spaces they occupy. These fees will be adjusted every two years.

In addition, TAA will impose a Customer Facility Charge, CFC, on each contract that is estimated at $3.50. "Customer facility charges are the new standard now being used by airports to finance car rental facilities," explained TAA President & CEO Walter A. Burg. "Most airports charge a daily CFC of about $3. We will institute a per-contract fee rather than a per day fee so all rental car customers are paying a fee based on the use of the facility rather than the length of the car rental contract."

The two structures will be built at the east end of the terminal complex in an area now being used for rental car parking. The rental car building will connect to the main terminal via a new link to be built during the last phase of terminal construction.

This phase also includes construction of a new upper level (enplaning) roadway, commercial roadway and temporary lower level (deplaning) roadway. This will be the first step in the $50 million Terminal Expansion Project, which will be funded by passenger facility charges. (PFCs are a fee, currently $3, imposed by airports on departing passengers. A maximum of $12 can be collected from one passenger on each round trip airline ticket.)

Both the car rental building and parking structure and terminal roadway projects are expected to be completed in the Fall of 2001.

A separate bid package will be issued early next year for the remainder of the Terminal Expansion Project which will include adding appx. 82,000 sq. ft. to the baggage claim and ticketing areas of the main terminal. This last phase of construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2003.

TAA awarded HNTB Corporation of Irvine, California the contract to provide architectural and engineering design services for the project in1998. They are supported by Tucson architects Gresham & Beach and local engineers Stantec Corporation.

Architectural features of the rental car project include a screen wall adjacent to the roadway shielding the building from vehicular traffic; and a desert landscaped garden area at the building entrance. A barrel vault traverses the length of the public area.

"Marrying a new building to an existing structure is challenging," said Burg, "Our goal is to integrate the desert environment through the use of landscape highlights. And, we are using some classical architectural themes, like the ceiling vault, with the more traditional lines of the terminal to create a striking edifice that blends with Tucson and functions efficiently. We think the community will be pleased with the result."