Waymo is making one of its biggest bets yet on Arizona, acquiring a massive 5,500-acre autonomous vehicle proving ground in Wittmann for $220 million as the company accelerates efforts to expand its robotaxi operations nationwide. Land Advisors Organization served as the broker for the deal and Greenberg Traurig was the attorney for the seller.
The purchase, recorded June 5 in Maricopa County filings, gives Waymo — Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving subsidiary — control of one of the country’s most advanced vehicle testing facilities, a site previously tied to Apple’s now-defunct self-driving car ambitions.
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The property was acquired by an entity tracing to Waymo for approximately $220 million, or about $0.92 per square foot. While the seller has not been conclusively identified, public filings show the transaction involved Route 14 Investment Partners LLC, a Delaware entity reportedly associated with Apple. The seller was represented by Greenberg Traurig attorney Kevin J. Morris. Media reports have suggested a connection between the site and Apple Inc., though that association has not been independently verified.
For Waymo, the acquisition marks a major infrastructure investment at a pivotal moment for the company. Already operating autonomous ride-hailing services in Phoenix and several other major metros, Waymo is aggressively scaling its footprint with ambitions to reach 1 million paid robotaxi rides per week by the end of 2026.
The Wittmann proving ground offers an enormous advantage.
Purpose-built for automotive testing, the facility includes a 115-acre mock city course designed to simulate real-world urban driving, a 35-acre vehicle dynamics area, a four-mile oval track and a dedicated freeway course. The site was originally developed as Fiat Chrysler’s hot-weather testing facility before Apple purchased it in 2021 for $125 million as part of its secretive autonomous vehicle initiative, known internally as Project Titan.
Apple spent years — and billions of dollars — pursuing a self-driving vehicle before abandoning the effort in early 2024. Now, the same proving ground central to that program will be used to strengthen Waymo’s growing autonomous ecosystem.
Waymo told TechCrunch the facility will support controlled driving simulations, rider-only testing, motion-control testing, operational training and future testing expansion.
The acquisition also complements Waymo’s growing Arizona presence. The company already operates a 239,000-square-foot Mesa manufacturing facility, where partner Magna integrates Waymo’s self-driving technology into new autonomous vehicles, including the Zeekr-built Ojai robotaxi and, eventually, the Hyundai IONIQ 5.
With Phoenix already serving as one of Waymo’s most established robotaxi markets, the addition of a nearby world-class proving ground reinforces Arizona’s position as a national hub for autonomous vehicle innovation.
Waymo’s timing underscores the momentum behind the industry. Earlier this year, the company reportedly secured $16 billion in funding at a $126 billion valuation and now operates nearly 4,000 autonomous vehicles across more than 10 U.S. cities, including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta.
As the race to commercialize self-driving technology intensifies, Waymo’s $220 million Arizona investment signals that Phoenix and the West Valley could remain at the center of the autonomous future.
