JFK’s Vetport, currently located at Building 189, will be replaced by the new facility. File photo.
While JFK Airport may be going to the dogs, it’s definitely not a bad thing.
Plans for a new, 21st century animal handling facility that will handle roughly 70,000 domestic and wild animals annually has been approved by Port Authority commissioners.
The new facility, called ARK, will offer a modern veterinary hospital, animal daycare services and more efficient ways to transport animals worldwide. It will also create 190 jobs, $12.3 million in wages and $50.5 million in economic activity during the span of the project’s 20-year lease.
“While most of our airport passengers walk on two legs, this new center will serve the important travel needs of our four-legged and winged friends, while helping to create regional jobs and significant revenue for the Port Authority,’’ said agency Executive Director Pat Foye.
ARK Development LLC is developing the facility, which will use the currently vacant Building 78 at JFK and 14.4 acres of land during the 20-year agreement. The company will invest about $30 million in the 108,650 square-foot main center and another $2 million in a 63, 515 square-foot cargo handling facility. The Port Authority said it estimates receiving more than $108 million in rent over the lease term.
The center will also host a three-day quarantine area, dog and cat kenneling and grooming services, an aviary, lawn space for exercising animals, a veterinary hospital and a rehabilitation center for horses and other large animals.
“The Port Authority is continually striving to find innovative ways to meet its customers’ needs and this animal handling facility accomplishes that goal for the aviation sector,” said Vice Chair Scott Rechler. “The project also will turn this unused building back into a profitable operation that will earn the agency more than $100 million over the next two decades.”
