DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services has announced the groundbreaking of Gateway Executive Airpark, a three-hangar development totaling more than 185,500 square feet at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona.

Gateway Executive Airpark, which is now leasing and will be available for occupancy by Q4, is a state-of-the-art, full-service hangar facility including multi-tenant and freestanding hangars, according to Steve McKendry, Principal and Executive Vice President at DAUM Commercial, who is an exclusive listing agent for the property alongside DAUM Executive Vice Presidents Chris Rogers and Trevor McKendry.

“Private jet services for both business and leisure travel have proven to be much more resilient than commercial airlines throughout the pandemic,” says Steve McKendry. “A year on, many corporations still do not want their executive teams flying commercial airlines, and individuals are placing safety first and considering private flights when they never would have previously. Business aviation has improved 30% from this time a year ago, about 8% less than pre-pandemic 2019. The improvement is due to not only safety issues but is reflective of economies opening up and travel restrictions being removed. In contrast, scheduled airline activity is down about 18% from this time in 2020 and 44% from 2019.”

Steve adds that COVID-19-related hesitancy will continue for several months, possibly years. Unrelated trends, including a such a shortage of first-class seats as airlines redesign their interiors, could also make private jet travel more appealing.

“Despite the unprecedented challenges faced this past year, this is still an ideal time to strategically deliver a development like the Gateway Executive Airpark to the greater Phoenix market,” explains Rogers. “Major corporations, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple, are expanding in the area, driving potential demand for executive travel. There has also been an influx of development of new aeronautical facilities near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in particular, bringing additional business to the submarket.”

Advantages of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport location of this project also include reduced taxes and lower operating costs through unique tax programs and incentives.

“While we are anticipating strong local demand from large corporations and high-net-worth individuals, this space could also be attractive to private jet owners and branded charter services based elsewhere,” adds Trevor. “For instance, even with the additional travel required, the significantly lower rental rates and tax incentives make holding aircrafts at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport approximately 70% less than anywhere in Southern California.”

The hangars are constructed with steel frame infrastructure, metal exterior walls and metal roof. The steel frame infrastructure provides clear span bays necessary for aircraft maneuvering. Additionally, Gateway Executive Airpark features office space built to suit tenant’s requirements, LED overhead lighting with on/off motion sensors in hangars, sealed concrete floors and hangar doors 28’ high with widths spanning 90’ to 110’.

Developed to accommodate the increasing demand trend for the larger long range business jets, the dimensions of the hangar bays and hangar doors at Gateway Executive Airpark will accommodate larger jets, such as the new Gulfstream 700, multiple aircraft, and other aviation uses such as maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operations.

Steve adds: “As part of our involvement with this project, we’ve been keeping our finger on the pulse of the hangar space market to truly understand the demand drivers and current local market. Only in recent years have hangars been designed for larger executive jets, which has resulted in a market that currently has very little availability of hangars designed to accommodate long-range executive jets.”

Situated adjacent to Textron’s Citation Service Center and Embraer Executive Jet Service Center, Gateway Executive Airpark is located at 5559 S. Sossaman Road in Mesa, Arizona. Additional details on the development and leasing information can be found at https://www.gatewayhangars.com.