Hanscom developers seek to renovate just one hangar for now

The Hanscom Field expansion area is outlined in red. Lincoln’s approximate town border to the south is indicated by the green dashed line.

Faced with a possible shorter-term revenue opportunity, the developers of the proposed Hanscom expansion are seeking to renovate the old Navy hangar and lease it, though their larger hangar space expansion proposal is not off the table.

North Airfield Ventures LLC and Runway Realty Ventures LLC recently filed a Notice of Project Change with a Phase One Waiver Request to allow them to renovate the historic hangar. According to the Bedford Citizen on June 19, 2025, they are in negotiations with Merlin Labs to renovate the historic hangar and sign a long-term deal to lease 70-80% of the space for research and development space for autonomous flight control systems. Specialty medical and pharmaceutical delivery companies have also shown interest and are in negotiations for the remaining space, the Citizen reported.

The Mass. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs issued a ruling in June 2024 saying that the developers’ Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Hanscom Field expansion project first proposed in 2023 “does not adequately and properly comply” with Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office (MEPA) regulations. The Supplemental DEIR (sDEIR) for the single hangar renovation says that work does not meet the threshold for requiring MEPA approval. 

The original plan — which has engendered significant opposition from hundreds of residents, officials, scientists, and others — called for adding almost 500,000 square feet of new hangar space on a 47-acre parcel on the north side of Hanscom Field in Bedford. The developers are expected to file a DEIR for an amended version of that project later this year.

“They are not really pulling back, they are splitting the project into parts,” said Christopher Eliot of Lincoln, until recently the chair of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission. “I think the Merlin project may be OK, or at least good enough that it is not worth asking for a major community effort to oppose it. We need to keep our powder dry and prepare for the expected sDEIR instead.”