Air Cargo Facility at JFK International Airport

the opportunity

This landmark LEED Gold facility, operated in partnership between Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), is the first new cargo terminal to be built at JFK International Airport in 25 years. Developed by Realterm, the $270 million project is also the first of the JFK Vision Plan, an initiative to modernize passenger and cargo operations at the airport to meet the increasing demands of modern air freight movement. The JFK cargo industry handles approximately 1.3 million tons of cargo per year and supports 50,000 jobs, $8 billion in sales, and nearly $3 billion in wages, yet more than half of JFK’s cargo buildings are over 40 years old and do not meet current industry standards.

our approach

The 350,000-square-foot air cargo facility replaces two obsolete facilities, and provides advanced technology systems designed for maximum efficiency in handling and storing cargo in addition to a temperature-controlled area for pharmaceutical products. As a vital piece of infrastructure that will bridge air and land distribution, the building evokes an architectural response of monumentality and order associated with bridges, airports, and civic structures. The design achieves this through structural repetition that manifests in movement, overhangs, and height.

The facility acts as a commercial hub for last-mile distribution with proximity to the most populated metropolitan area in the nation as well as to the Ports of New Jersey and New York. The development is accessible by various MTA Bus lines that travel along North Boundary Road, providing easy connections to the surrounding community.

Program

Warehouse space, office space, 60 truck dock positions, three aircraft parking positions for Class VI aircraft

Partners

Harrison-Hamnett
Syska Hennessy Group
VRH Construction

Awards

Queens Chamber of Commerce, Building Awards, New Construction: Industrial, 2025