The Des Moines International Airport last week completed a $9.16 million expansion of a facility for cargo operations. The building will be leased to Federal Express and Worldwide Services. Photo special to the Business Record.

The Des Moines International Airport last week completed two major construction projects – a $9.16 million expansion of cargo operations and the final $6.8 million section of the northwest-to-southeast runway. 

The cargo project added a new 44,446-square-foot building that will be leased to Federal Express and Worldwide Services. FedEx will occupy 33,000 square feet, an addition of 14,670 square feet after moving from the old 27,500-square-foot building. FedEx is looking to expand storage and to improve efficiency, airport officials said. Worldwide’s 11,446 square feet is slightly larger than before.

The FedEx facility is the first public-private partnership related to the overall plan to build a new terminal at the airport. Airport officials moved to relocate Signature Flight Support and Des Moines Flying Service to the original FedEx site to make room for the new terminal to the north of the existing terminal building. 

The FedEx/Worldwide cargo building began about four years ago, roughly the same time as work on the runway. The final section of the runway, officially runway 13/31, cost $6.8 million (including $5.9 million from a federal grant) and was part of a complete $45.7 million runway replacement in three stages. 

The airport continues to work on completing financing for a massive project that could reach $500 million and would include a new terminal, a parking ramp addition and related facilities.