In a deal that neatly captures Miami's new love affair with private jets, Four Springs TEN31 Xchange has scooped up a 27.4-acre airside campus at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, betting big on mission-critical aviation real estate in South Florida. The July purchase includes a 175,000-square-foot hangar and support complex leased to Jet Aviation and was later bundled into a Delaware statutory trust for accredited investors. Local brokers say the trade is a textbook example of how private-jet demand is quietly remaking the region's industrial and infrastructure investment map.
Deal details and market context
According to CoStar, Four Springs paid $17.5 million for the airside campus at 14225 Aviation Drive, closing on the acquisition in July. The buyer used affiliate bridge financing to pull off an all-cash purchase, then rolled the property into a $22 million Aviation Infrastructure Delaware Statutory Trust that the firm says was fully subscribed by Oct. 31, 2025. CoStar also reports that activity at Miami-Opa Locka has jumped roughly 225% since the pandemic, a surge that market participants point to as a major catalyst for additional fixed-base operator capacity.
Property, tenant and ownership
The sponsor's executive summary describes the deal as a leasehold interest structured on a long-term master lease with Miami-Dade County. AVE Airside holds that master lease, while Jet Aviation operates as the fixed-base operator subtenant and is planning a multi-phase build-out on the site. Offering materials outline a Class A, 175,000-square-foot aviation complex on 27.4 acres with hangars, maintenance shops and a fueling station, and note that the leasehold is designed to accommodate Section 1031 exchange buyers. Full details are available in the Four Springs TEN31 Xchange executive summary.
Financing, complexity and local reactions
Behind the scenes, the mix of ground lease, leasehold interest and DST structure meant extra legal, environmental and underwriting work, according to industry sources. As CoStar reports, NAI Miami Fort Lauderdale partner Robert Eckstein said the structure "reflects the commitment of all involved," while Berger Commercial Realty's Michael Feuerman told CoStar that the DST and bridge financing "added additional, significant layers of complexity to the deal." Industry judges later awarded the transaction a CoStar Impact Award for South Florida, citing both its market significance and its intricate structure.
Why investors are paying attention
Sponsors and wealth managers are increasingly carving out single-asset aviation infrastructure deals into DSTs so accredited investors can tap into long-term, lease-backed cash flows and 1031 exchange opportunities, a playbook Four Springs followed on this transaction. General Dynamics' 2024 Form 10-K notes that Jet Aviation has broken ground on a new facility at Miami-Opa Locka, underscoring the operator's expansion in the market and the broader supply-side response to growing private-jet use. With runway-adjacent land in short supply and demand still climbing, brokers say more specialized, mission-critical trades are likely to surface across South Florida.
What to watch next
Locals and industry watchers alike will be tracking Jet Aviation's phased construction to see how added fixed-base operator capacity reshapes traffic patterns at Opa Locka, and whether other sponsors copy Four Springs' DST strategy. For additional background on the acquisition announcement, see industry reporting by AltsWire.
