The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a press release regarding a new animal handling facility to be created at JFK International Airport. The facility will be constructed inside 2 existing buildings totaling 172,165 square-feet and operate 24/7 for worldwide import and export needs. The $32 million facility will handle 70,000 domestic and wild animals annually, and offer quarantine (equine), dog and cat kenneling and grooming services, an aviary, lawn space for exercising animals and a veterinary hospital and rehabilitation center for horses and other large animals.
The facility will be named “ARK” and will offer a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital, animal daycare services and more efficient ways to transport animals worldwide, including exotic species. It will 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. ARK Development LLC will take over the currently vacant Building 78 at JFK and 14.4 acres of ground area as part of a 20-year agreement, in which the company will invest approximately $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 anticipates receiving more than $108 million in rent over the lease term, consisting of fixed rent and revenue-sharing percentage fees.
The center also will include a three-day equine quarantine area, dog and cat kenneling and grooming services, an aviary, lawn space for exercising animals and a veterinary hospital and rehabilitation center for horses and other large animals. There will be no animal testing done at the facility.
Additionally, ARK is in extended negotiations with Cornell’s veterinary school, which would serve as the consultant on the project and the operator of the large animal hospital.
CONTACT: Ron Marsico, 212-435-7777