Ocean Aviation Breaks Ground on $67M Private Aviation Campus at Miami Executive Airport

Ocean Aviation, backed by Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, broke ground on October 7, 2026 on a new private aviation campus at Miami Executive Airport (KTMB), representing a $67 million capital commitment.

The development will accommodate up to 400,000 square feet of hangar space in communal and private configurations, a premium terminal, a fuel farm, and a 32,000-square-foot common-use taxi lane and ramp serving U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The project also includes relocation of the Wings Over Miami Air Museum. The facility is being delivered through a design-build model led by Lemartec, with Schenkel Shultz as design partner.

Ocean Aviation was established in 2024 following the execution of a 40-year, 40-acre ground lease at KTMB. In September 2026, the company expanded its South Florida presence with the acquisition of National Jets at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL), an FBO with more than 60 years of history; National Jets will continue to operate under its established name. Together, KTMB and KFLL form a dual-airport network serving the Miami–Fort Lauderdale metro.

Romain Grosjean, Executive Chairman of Ocean Aviation, called the groundbreaking "a defining milestone" for the company, adding that the campus is "built around the needs of aircraft owners, operators and flight departments" and aims to set a new standard for the FBO experience in South Florida.

The $67 million commitment sits on top of a 40-year, 40-acre ground lease executed at KTMB when Ocean Aviation was formed in 2024, giving the project a long runway to amortize the hangar, terminal and fuel-farm build-out. Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, the backer, is an alternative investment firm founded in 2017 by David K. Chene and Darren L. Richman, with approximately $37 billion under management.

The National Jets acquisition in September 2026 adds an FBO with more than 60 years of operating history at KFLL, run under its existing name rather than being rebranded into the Ocean Aviation identity.

A private-equity-backed operator committing capital to a ground-up FBO campus, rather than buying an existing facility outright, reflects a route some investors are taking into business aviation real estate: lock in a long lease, then build scale through both new construction and acquisition in the same period.

Pairing a newly built campus at one airport with a decades-old FBO brand at a neighboring field lets an operator offer aircraft owners and flight departments a choice of ramp within one metro area without consolidating service under a single name. How much traffic actually shifts between KTMB and KFLL once the campus opens will depend on pricing, slot availability and the CBP-served ramp capacity the project is adding.

The design-build timeline led by Lemartec and Schenkel Shultz, and the progress of relocating the Wings Over Miami Air Museum, are the next concrete markers that will show whether the project is tracking toward completion as planned.