State proposes five-year lease extension for Barrow Airport warehouse lot

A five-year lease extension would keep ASRC Builders on a 27,600-square-foot support parcel at Barrow Airport, preserving warehouse and office space tied to cargo handling, staging and equipment parking near Utqiaġvik’s main air link. The lot, identified as Lot 2, Block 600, is not part of a runway project. It is a non-aeronautical site that helps the airport function as a logistics hub as much as a flight field.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said the annual rent for lease ADA-72379 is $10,350, plus associated fees. The authorized use includes operating and maintaining a warehouse with office space for aeronautical and non-aeronautical use, temporary outside storage of air cargo, materials and supplies, and automobile and equipment parking. Written comments on the proposal were due by 4:30 p.m. Monday, June 22, 2026, and the department listed Johnna Merculief of Aviation Leasing in Fairbanks as the contact. The extension is being handled under AS 02.15.090(c), which allows the state to grant the lease without competition.

For Utqiaġvik, that kind of airport-adjacent space matters because air cargo, freight handling, contractor staging and supply logistics are tightly tied to the airport. Keeping this parcel in use helps preserve a practical base for businesses that need a place to store equipment, stage materials and maintain office operations close to the transportation network that serves the North Slope. The notice does not describe a new capital project, but it does show the state continuing to accommodate the kind of land use that supports daily airport operations and local commerce.

ASRC Builders is part of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation’s construction arm, and ASRC says its headquarters are in Utqiaġvik. ASRC Construction describes itself as a subsidiary of the corporation, which says it employs more than 16,000 people and generates $5.7 billion in annual revenue. That footprint helps explain why a warehouse-and-office lease at the airport carries more weight than its size might suggest. For a company with major North Slope operations, a secure foothold at the airport can support the flow of crews, materials and equipment that keep jobs moving.

The lease also fits a longer pattern at Barrow Airport. A prior public notice described ADA-72379 as a successive lease to ADA-70633 and said the earlier lease was set to expire June 23, 2021, underscoring that this is a continuation of an existing arrangement rather than a new development push. DOT&PF’s Barrow Airport master plan update describes the airport as supporting aviation and the local economy over a 20-year planning horizon, and earlier airport-improvement planning has included additional apron space and maintenance-and-operations infrastructure such as ARFF, snow removal equipment, heated sand storage, deicing storage and living quarters. The lease extension would keep one more piece of that airport-support network in place.