“That’s huge to be be able to unlock that much raw land next to the airport for development,” said Joe Chandler, commercial real-estate attorney with Fennemore Craig.Ĭhandler said he expects light-industrial employment opportunities, offices, hotels and conference space will bubble up around the new terminal in the coming years. The airport will retain ownership of the land but provide long-term leases for development, Smith said. Part of that land will be used for a future commercial terminal once the current terminal along Sossaman Road hits capacity, Smith said. But a large swath of that land will be used for industrial, commercial and even residential development. New development on the horizonĮarlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration gave the go-ahead for development on700 acres of land north of the airport at the southwest corner of Ellsworth and Ray roads. In May, the Governor’s Office and the Arizona Commerce Authority announced that Constant Aviation will open a maintenance, overhaul and repair facility at Gateway later this year, bringing 200 jobs with an average $60,000 annual wage.īut what lies ahead could have an even larger impact on the airport and the East Valley as a whole. Each employs 75 people at about a $75,000 average salary, Smith said. Two other companies - Cessna Citation Service Center and Embraer Executive Jet Services - provide similar maintenance services at the airport. The company began in the 1980s with just a handful of employees and was recently sold to Textron, one of the world’s largest aviation companies. Able Engineering, the largest employer at the airport with more than 500 employees, provides maintenance, overhaul and repair work for helicopters and planes. The airport is home to some longtime and new businesses. “We play land developer like no one else does,” Smith said. Perhaps the most unique thing about the Gateway Airport is the abundance of ready-to-develop land in and around the airport. In addition to a burgeoning commercial presence, Gateway also serves private jets, two flight schools, government planes and other private planes that make up a significant chunk of its annual activity, Smith said. However, the Sky Harbor and Portland airports are mainly commercial airports with many more passengers than Gateway.

Last year, Gateway accounted for more than 222,000 landings and takeoffs, making it busier than Portland International Airport. Gateway is often considered a reliever airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, but it is still one of the busiest airports in the country. The city has pumped more than $100 million into the airport over 25 years, he said. Each community puts forth a different amount of funding each year, with Mesa providing “a lion’s share,” according to airport spokesman Ryan Smith.

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