Four Western North Carolina Jurisdictions Pooled 1,051 Acres at Foothills Regional Airport. The Sewer Is Funded at 5.9%.
Four western North Carolina jurisdictions have consolidated land control over 1,051 acres at Foothills Regional Airport through a joint airport authority that can lease the site under a single signature. Phase I environmental is complete across the full parcel, and the coalition holds a $709,508 state sewer grant against a $12 million sewer cost, with no engineer selected and no construction schedule. The governance solves the coordination problem that kills most multi-jurisdictional pitches, but sewer construction, power verification, and treatment capacity remain unbound, screening out process-intensive prospects.
Four Western North Carolina Jurisdictions Pooled 1,051 Acres at Foothills Regional Airport. The Sewer Is Funded at 5.9%.
Four western North Carolina jurisdictions have consolidated land control over 1,051 acres at Foothills Regional Airport through a joint airport authority that can lease the site under a single signature. Phase I environmental is complete across the full parcel, and the coalition holds a $709,508 state sewer grant against a $12 million sewer cost, with no engineer selected and no construction schedule. The governance solves the coordination problem that kills most multi-jurisdictional pitches, but sewer construction, power verification, and treatment capacity remain unbound, screening out process-intensive prospects.
Assessment Ladder
Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority completed environmental, geotechnical, and infrastructure planning on land adjacent to Tuscaloosa National Airport in 2025, funded by a $296,000 assessment grant through Alabama's SEEDS site-readiness program. The assessment identified the S.D. Allen property inside the Airport Industrial Park as viable for advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and automotive — and documented the site constraints that had kept it off shortlists. Alabama's SEEDS program stages funding sequentially: assessment first, then construction eligibility once diligence is complete. TCEDA moved through that sequence in under a year. By February 2026, Alabama approved a $2.3M SEEDS development grant ($4.6M with local match) to consolidate the property into 230 contiguous shovel-ready acres. Site work targets end of 2027.
Shoals EDA ran the same sequence at Barton Riverfront: assessment in 2025, $3M development award by April 2026. Alabama's current SEEDS round (deadline August 31) funds assessment only. Cities entering the pipeline now are two funding cycles behind Tuscaloosa and Shoals.