Construction of site improvements, including security fencing, access roads and culverts for a $25-million, 217-acre unmanned aerial-systems park, began in Grand Forks, N.D., in July. But even before the first phase broke ground, the developer started pushing drone-related research by partnering with the developers of an airtraffic-control system for drones.
The facility, called Grand Sky Development Park, is America’s first UAS aviation park, says Thomas Swoyer Jr., president of Grand Sky Development Co., Grand Forks. “The vision outgrew itself,” he says. The facility is being developed on an out-of-use portion of the Grand Forks Air Force Base. It already offers 1.2 million sq ft of hanger, office, shop, laboratory and data-center space on a build-to-suit basis.