Planes line the tarmac at Ocean City Municipal Airport on a summer weekend.
People park their cars in the garage all the time.
So, if you’re the owner of a plane that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, wouldn’t you want a nice hangar for parking your expensive aircraft?
Ocean City is planning to make its municipal airport more attractive to pilots by building new hangars for the small planes that typically land there.
The city will benefit by renting out the hangars to generate extra revenue for the airport.
“The city would lease the units at a fair-market rental rate. Pilots would benefit because there is a need for hangar space throughout the region. The city would benefit from the revenue stream,” city spokesman Doug Bergen said.
Federal funding will help to finance the project. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew announced $1.4 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration for improvements at three South Jersey airports, Ocean City, Woodbine and Millville.
“These are the kinds of investments that keep South Jersey going," Van Drew said in a statement. "Our local airports are used every day, and they need to be safe, functional, and able to support themselves. This money helps make that happen.”
An airport attendant refuels a plane in August of 2023.Van Drew’s 2nd Congressional District includes the three South Jersey airports benefiting from the federal funding. The funding will go toward the final phases of new hangars at the Millville and Ocean City airports and the new taxiway at the Woodbine airport.
Bergen said $610,000 of the federal funding will go for building eight new hangars. Ocean City is still working on the final cost of its project, so there is no timeline yet for construction.
“This grant program is unique, as it allows for revenue-producing projects, and the Ocean City Municipal Airport was eligible only because it has fulfilled all FAA safety requirements,” Bergen said while extending the city’s thanks to Van Drew for helping to secure the money.
Built in 1935, the airport’s claim to fame is that it is the only one in New Jersey located on a barrier island. It is among just a few airports located on a barrier island on the entire East Coast.
The airport’s location on Bay Avenue at 26th Street is just a few blocks from the beach. It is not uncommon in summer to see people get out of their planes holding beach chairs and umbrellas.
The airport handles mostly small, single-engine planes. But the nearly 3,000-foot runway is long enough to accommodate private jets. Pop superstar Taylor Swift is known to fly into the airport on her jet from time to time during visits to the Jersey Shore.
A sign welcomes travelers to the airport.According to the most recent figures, the airport has about 20,000 takeoffs, landings, fly-bys and other aviation activity annually, which is consistent with years past. Recreational pilots, commercial charter flights, military aircraft, and Coast Guard helicopters use the facility.
Plans for the new hangars are separate from the city’s centerpiece project – a new airport terminal that will feature an operations center on the ground level and a restaurant on the top floor offering sweeping views of the bay and wetlands surrounding the runway.
Leon Grisbaum, a former pilot who owns Berger Realty in Ocean City, has agreed to donate $3 million for the new terminal. The city would match Grisbaum’s donation with its own $3 million contribution.
The city is trying to secure an FAA grant for millions of dollars to help finance the terminal project. No date has been announced for construction yet, although the city held a ceremonial groundbreaking in October 2024 that was largely for trumpeting Grisbaum’s donation.
The airport’s current terminal building, a small and modest structure, will be demolished to make room for the new project. The old building dates to the 1950s and once housed a casual restaurant. The restaurant closed during the COVID pandemic outbreak.
The modest existing airport terminal will be demolished eventually to create room for the new project
