Ocean Works Development

O-Plex 2020: San Diego, California

 

In 2006, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority determined that without a new airport to replace one-runway Lindbergh Field, the region would stand to lose upwards of $100 billion in economic growth. But that same year, voters rejected the Authority’s plan to site the airport at a military airbase, and no other land-based site was deemed acceptable.
 
Subsequently, OceanWorks Development noticed a claim to 40,000 sq. mi. of the Southern California Bight for building an offshore airport. O-Plex 2020, a deep-water, permanently moored 3 sq. mi. multi-purpose infrastructure facility, currently in its proof of concept design stage, would host an FAA Design Group VI dual runway international airport as its anchor tenant. The platform would also support other ocean-based infrastructure, including renewable energy technology and a desalination plant, as well as 200 million sq. ft. of space for private enterprise.
 
OceanWorks Development expects the budgeted $20 billion project to be financed by a combination of private equity and private and public debt.