Contractors Northwest Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, is erecting 18 airplane hangars in a "nested," or clustered, facility at the Coeur d'Alene Airport, at a project cost of about $500,000.

Foreman Properties LLC, of Hayden Lake, Idaho, is developing the hangars, and plans to lease or sell the hangar space, says Foreman Properties owner Darryl Foreman. He's developing the project in a partnership with his nephew, Troy Stephens, who will use one of the hangar spaces for his own airplane.

Bryan Taylor, president and chief operating officer of Contractors Northwest, says the hangars are pre-engineered steel structures called "T-hangars" and will be nested to maximize use of the space. In the design, the tail sections of each hangar space are built into the center of the structure, with the doors around the outer edge.

The hangars will have bifold electric doors and will be big enough to store most single-engine planes and some twin-engine planes, Foreman says.

Work began on the project in mid-February, and is expected to be completed sometime in May, Taylor says. The hangar project follows work done at the airport last year to expand taxi lanes for additional hangar development on 10 acres the airport had purchased there.

Foreman Properties has a 25-year ground lease at the airport, with the option to renew the lease for another 25 years, Foreman says. The Coeur d'Alene Airport is a general aviation airport located on about 1,000 acres, about seven miles north of downtown Coeur d'Alene in the city of Hayden.