Companies at FLITE Goodyear’s 1M SF campus continue to expand

Companies at FLITE Goodyear, the former home of Lockheed Martin and Arizona’s new launchpad for 21^st Century innovation, are currently expanding and enhancing the success of the one million-square-foot mixed-use campus.

Already home to more than 60 companies on 95 acres, FLITE Goodyear continues to grow with the expansions of PSG and CAVCO. PSG, a professional engineering services company which specializes in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) technology, is expanding from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet. PSG, which now has 40+ person work force, first opened in FLITE Goodyear in 2010 with just 5 employees. CAVCO West, a modular home builder which has been part of the campus since 1993, is now occupying more than 250,000 square feet.  

“We are thrilled about company expansions for PSG and CAVCO and how FLITE Goodyear serves as a proving ground supporting their successful operations,” said Daryl Burton, owner of Reliance Management of Phoenix and of FLITE Goodyear. “FLITE Goodyear pays homage to Arizona’s great aviation history while offering functional space, accelerating business growth and providing employees the benefits of a more urban connected setting.”

FLITE Goodyear, adjacent to the Phoenix Goodyear Airport, is the former home of Lockheed Martin. The office, retail and industrial technology campus spanning 20 buildings currently serves as home to companies with varied business operations such as windshields for fighter jets, satellite radar systems, machine shops, gantry cranes, electric vehicles and manufactured homes. FLITE Goodyear offers a wellness path, furnished outdoor collaborative areas and displays of public art with an aviation theme honoring the site’s history of flight innovation.

The property’s history dates back to 1941 when the U.S. Navy started construction of the Litchfield Naval Air Station. During World War II, the plant manufactured thousands of B-24 Bombers for the Navy’s Pacific Campaign. In 1948, the Goodyear Aircraft Company purchased the plant and refocused its efforts on radar technologies. The radar operations remained a significant part of the Goodyear Aircraft Company and the activities of successor companies at the plant. In times of war and peace, the plant employed as many as 4,500 people. In addition, the Goodyear Blimp and many of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’s large floating characters were made at FLITE Goodyear. 

Burton placed a special emphasis on maintaining the site’s history during FLITE Goodyear’s $25 million renovation. The renovation included repurposing hundreds of thousands of square feet of 1960’s – 1980’s office interiors and keeping intact the 1940’s – 1970’s exteriors. The brick exteriors were cleaned and refreshed, a 1940’s 100,000-square-foot hangar building with a 56-foot ceiling was converted from an office building into an iconic parking garage and event space, and numerous public art amenities were added.

“It was important to preserve Goodyear’s tremendous aviation history while creating a welcoming, attractive environment to growing companies in the West Valley and beyond,” Burton said.

PSG’s roots trace back to the Goodyear Aircraft Company that first patented synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in 1951. Many of PSG’s experts have Lockheed Martin pedigrees. PSG’s space at FLITE Goodyear is qualified for classified work and the company is expected to grow up to 100 employees during the next five years as the applications for their technologies expand.

“FLITE Goodyear is an ideal location for PSG. Significant advances in radar sensing technologies were invented here going back to Goodyear Aerospace. We are proud to build on the shoulders of those giants in today’s ‘information Age,’” said Joseph Marvin, president and founder of PSG. “The FLITE Goodyear campus is a place where many technology advances were achieved.  This place inspires us to extend those achievements into the future.” 

CAVCO West is a southwest leader in factory built manufactured homes.

“CAVCO West has found success at FLITE Goodyear. Being located near technology innovators, available labor in the West Valley, the Phoenix Goodyear Airport and Interstate 10 makes FLITE Goodyear the right place to expand,” said Paul DeRoo, Vice President Southwest Region with CAVCO West.