When did a Louisiana public airport have to bid a space lease, and how long could it run?

Plain-English summary

Hammond's mayor asked how Louisiana law treated leases of public airport land, improvements, or equipment. The Attorney General said an operations-space lease covering more than 250 square feet had to be publicly bid. For less than 250 square feet, the lessor could decide whether to bid it. The opinion distinguished these operations leases from long-term arrangements to finance construction of airport improvements.

The AG read the statute as limiting the primary lease to ten years, with two possible extensions tied to improvements. One option allowed up to ten additional years if the lessee made or contracted for at least twenty thousand dollars in permanent improvements during the initial term. The other addressed improvements worth more than one hundred thousand dollars that would become the lessor's property at no cost: it allowed up to ten additional years for each one hundred thousand dollars in improvements, subject to a sixty-year extended-term limit.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did every airport operations-space lease require a public bid?
No, under the statute the AG reviewed. It said leases for more than 250 square feet required bidding; for smaller spaces, bidding was the lessor's choice.

Could the initial lease exceed ten years?
The AG said these leases had a ten-year maximum primary term. Its discussion of longer occupancy concerned options to extend that term when the statutory improvement conditions were met.

What improvements supported an extension?
The opinion described a ten-year option tied to at least twenty thousand dollars in permanent improvements made or contracted for during the primary term, and a separate option for improvements exceeding one hundred thousand dollars that passed to the lessor without cost.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion interpreted La. R.S. 2:135.1 for public airport operations-space leases. It distinguished the bidding rule for spaces above 250 square feet from the lessor's discretion below that threshold. It then analyzed the primary-term limit and separate improvement-based options in subsection (B)(2).

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 2:135.1 (A)(3)
• La. R.S. 2:135.1(B)(1)(a)
• La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0193

Original opinion text

~.~t~te o~ ~oui~ia~
DEPARTMENT OF IUSTICE
One American Place
301 Niann ~treet Swte
CIVIL DIVISION
P O Bo~ q400q

BATON ROUGE
TEL 1225, 342-~013
FAX (225’ 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-g005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

JUN ~ 1 200Z
OPINION NO. 02-0193
1-B AERONAUTICS-Airports
90-Bo2 PUBLIC LANDS-Leases of other than oil & gas La. R.S. 2:135.1 (A)(3)
La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(1)(a)
La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2)
Honorable Louis J. Tallo
La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2)(a)
La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2)(b)
Mayor, City of Hammond
The leasing of public a=rport land and improvements of
more than 250 square feet is required to be publicly bid,
P.O. Box 2788
but leases for less than 250 square feet may or may
Hammond, LA 70404-2788
not be publicly bid at the option of the lessor, These
leases shall not exceed 10 years unless the lessor grants the lessee an option to extend the pnmar~j term
Dear Mayor Tallo: of the lease based upon the value of improvements made
or to be constructed by the lessee during the term of the pdmary lease.
You have requested an opinion of this office concerning the interpretation of La. R.S.
2:135.1 (B)(1)(a) and 2:135.1(B)(2)(a & b).

The above cited statutes deal with the leasing of public airport land, improvements or equipment as opposed to long term leasing arrangements necessary for financing the construction of a building or other improvements to expand the services of an airport.

Leases for operations space of more than 250 square feet are required to be publicly bid pursuant to La. R.S. 2:135.1 (A)(3), but leases for less than 250 square feet may or may not be publicly bid at the option of the lessor pursuant to La. R.S. 2:135.1(B)(1)(a).

Under La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2), these leases shall not exceed ten years. However, La. R.S.
2:135. l(B)(2)(a & b) provide for two separate and distinct options that may be granted by the lessor to the lessee to extend the primary term of the lease.

First, a lessor may grant an option to extend the primary lease for an additional period not exceeding 10 years when the lessee has within the ten year term of the lease either made or contracted for permanent improvements in an amount not less than twenty thousand dollars. La. R.S. 2:135.1 (B)(2)(a).

Secondly, when the primary lease provides for the addition or construction of improvements in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and such improvements will become the property of the lessor at no cost to the lessor, then the lessor may grant the lessee an option to extend the primary term of the lease up to ten additional years for each one hundred thousand dollars worth of additions or improvements, not to exceed an extended term of sixty years. La. R.S. 2:135. l(B)(2)(b).

Page 2

OPINION NO. 02-0193
Honorable Louis J. Tallo
Mayor, C~ty of Hammond
Page No. 2

We hope that the above analysis answers your request. If we can be of any further service
to you in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

RdBERT H. CARPE4~’~FR.
Assistant Attorney Gdrleral

RPI/RHC/tp