A long-envisioned, fly-in residential community in Sandpoint is under development once again, with the completion of one shell unit and preparation of two new lots expected this year, after legal issues had stalled progress at the site for more than a decade.

The planned 44-lot SilverWing at Sandpoint development is located on 18 acres of private land just west of the southern portion of the Sandpoint Airport's main 5,500-foot-long runway. Homes in the development are connected to the airport via a taxiway and an access road located between the airport's runway and the subdivision. 

Scott Wolfe, broker for SilverWing, says construction on two new lots likely will begin by this spring. 

"As soon as the ground is soft enough for us to start pouring foundations, we're going to start," Wolfe says.

As previously reported in the Journal, development delays began after the city of Sandpoint and Bonner County first approved the private residential development in 2007. At the time, construction was paused due to the Federal Aviation Administration's objections to Bonner County's runway access easements granted to SilverWing.

After the FAA granted SilverWing's easement, developers moved forward with infrastructure work and a taxiway to connect the airport's runway to the residential community. In 2011, a two-story model home was completed at the property.

The next year, however, SilverWing filed a lawsuit to protect its runway-access easement at the Sandpoint Airport after Bonner County's updated master plan improvements included a runway realignment 60 feet to the west, in the path of SilverWing's taxiway and some prime residential lots.

Several points in the case were dismissed in federal court and a remaining legal issue was remanded back to Idaho's First District Court, where SilverWing was awarded $1 million in damages and legal fees from the state case, according to previous Journal reports.

Ten years after breaking ground at the site and two court cases later, SilverWing developers planned to start building again, but by this time, interest in the project had decreased due to the legal uncertainties. 

"It took years, and during the whole time, we weren't able to build anything," Wolfe explains. "But all of that has been resolved through legal channels, and we have the green light to do everything that we wanted to do now."

Only the model home at SilverWing has been completed since the development was first announced.

The model home is a completely furnished 6,000-square-foot unit. The shell unit on the other half of the duplex is being built out now and is expected to be completed in May, Wolfe says. 

Each floor of the completed duplex structure has over 3,000 square feet of space, with loft-style living quarters above an aircraft hangar that features a fire suppression system and radiant-heated floors.

The half of the duplex that is under construction, located at 1208 Spitfire, will be listed for about $3 million and also will come furnished, he says.

Coeur d'Alene-based Miller Stauffer Architects has designed all of the homes for SilverWing at Sandpoint. Idagone Homes LLC, of Sandpoint, is the general contractor for the duplex currently under construction, and the Sandpoint office of Spokane-based The Tin Roof Inc. is the interior designer.

The total development cost of SilverWing will exceed the $28 million price tag reported in 2017, but Wolfe declines to disclose the total cost of development, as it will vary depending on lot plans.

"People are able to buy as many lots as they want and create their own aviation compound," adds Wolfe. 

SilverWing has completed one half of the duplex for a model home and expects to finish interior construction on the other side of the duplex in May.

Hangar garages will range in size from 1,700 square feet to 6,000 square feet. Garages are expected to hold up to three planes and accommodate many private jet models and smaller planes.

Overall, the entire site will take about 10 years to develop fully, he says.

Wolfe says he’s excited about improved hangar door technology that has evolved since the model home at SilverWing was first constructed.

"(Hangar doors are) balanced in a way that it puts no stress on the structure at all," Wolfe explains. "It opens up the kinds of designs we can make."

One new home design is for a single-story, wood-frame residence with an attached hangar.

"If you're getting older, you probably don't want to have stairs," he says. "This allows us to build houses that are more ergonomically friendly to people's movement." 

"Flying isn't a hobby for the financially timid," Wolfe continues. "The people that come here, for the most part, almost everyone is a self-made millionaire. ... They might have an airplane that costs $3 million or $4 million."

SilverWing at Sandpoint LLC is a development group operated by Torrance, California-based Mileski Holdings, says Wolfe.

Members of the ownership group are either pilots, plane owners, or outdoors enthusiasts, Wolfe says, adding that the development likely will appeal to buyers with similar interests.

"Who else would want to live at an airport?" says Wolfe. "Finding people who want to build a house around an airplane (takes) a unique person who must really love to fly."