Cirrus Design, on Thursday, secured a long-sought-after lease of the former Northwest Airlines hangar at Duluth International Airport (DLH), where Cirrus is based. According to the Duluth News Tribune, Cirrus plans to use the 189,000-square-foot building to design and build “the-jet.” Under the terms of the 25-year proposed lease with the city, Cirrus agrees to create 200 full-time jobs over the next seven years, the News Tribune article stated. The Duluth Economic Development Authority plans to finalize the lease at its next public meeting on Jan. 3, but Cirrus has reportedly already started moving into the building.
The lease comes on the heels of reports last week that the privately held aircraft manufacturer is considering an initial public stock offering or seeking a new major investor. Cirrus executives were unavailable for comment over the weekend but according to the News Tribune the company is downplaying suggestions the current lead investor, Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, which owns 58 percent of the company, is anxious to divest. “Since day one, we knew that Arcapita would develop an exit strategy at some point. But Arcapita is not looking to pull out of this company any time soon,” spokeswoman Kate Dougherty told the newspaper.
