OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Ocala City Council unanimously approved 4-0 the airport development inquiry form, revised airport leasing and property and development policy, revised airport development standards and airport properties website at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.

Ocala International Airport Director Matt Grow gave the presentation before city council. For more than a decade, the City of Ocala has invested significantly into the Ocala International Airport; with over 400 acres of aviation and non-aviation properties available for development, the city actively sought to strengthen the airport’s role as an economic driver through private development of those properties. Historically, investment depended on lengthy request for proposal (RFP), request for floor proposal or invitation to negotiate internal transaction numbers (ITN processes) that, while transparent, often resulted in significant delays, said Grow.

“In response, the city has modernized its inquiry process, airport leasing policy and development standard to create a clear, consistent and streamlined pathway for perspective developers,” said Grow. “Additionally, and with much thanks to the city’s IT department, a new ArcGIS interactive property map enhances accessibility and the marketing of the actual airport parcels, both the non-aviation side and the aviation side, parcels for sale and parcels for lease are all included in that.”

These updates maintain Federal Aviation Administration compliance, public accountability and city council oversight, while improving efficiency, accelerating responsible and compatible airport development and responding to industry requests for timeliness and predictability, said Grow. Staff recommended approval.

“I think this is awesome,” said Kristin Dreyer, Ocala City Council president. “I have customers that call all the time and say, ‘Hey, I want to invest in this.’ And sometimes it’s not here in this town, it’s statewide. It’s a considerable amount of work to go outside of what we’re normally used to, to find these things. I think the website is a great start. People need to know we even have an airport in order to find that. Can our real estate guy, not become a member of the MLS, and just put these in there. I don’t know what the problem with that would be. That would be a worldwide syndication.”

The question remains: How does the city get the broadest audience to look at the properties? And the prospective buyers need to be vetted, especially financially and in terms of experience, said Pete Lee, Ocala city manager.

“I want to take this and replicate it on other catalytic sites, as we get through the vision,” said Lee. “If we can do that, of course we’ll do it. We have real estate people on our staff.”

The legal problem that the city encounters, is that the municipality is obligated to sell this property–it belongs to the people, and the law requires that it not be sold for less than fair market value, said William Sexton, Ocala City attorney.

“There either has to be an appraisal done which costs money, if we’re going to do it up front, or a competitive solicitation that through itself ensures that the marketplace decides what the value is,” said Sexton. “Ordinarily, the gold standard for ensuring that you get the best price is that you ask the private sector to compete. We have an obligation to do that.”

The other alternative is if there’s an economic development component, if the developer can say that they’re providing the city with this additional benefit, by developing an area that the city hasn’t developed that will increase the tax base and will bring in this many jobs, that could justify a downward shift from that fair market value, but absent that, the city is legally obligated to find that place and list it for that, said Sexton.

One of the city’s objectives is to sell most of the publicly owned property that’s not needed, so it can go back on the tax rolls, said Lee.

“We should explore every option and we will,” said Lee.