Archer Aviation Signs Large Industrial Lease Near San Jose

Archer Aviation is growing near its Silicon Valley headquarters with a more than half-million-square-foot industrial lease.

The San Jose-based air taxi manufacturer leased the five-building, 501,000-square-foot Cochrane Technology Center in Morgan Hill as it prepares for its first passenger flights later this year, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. Trammell Crow Company developed the 30-acre property and confirmed Archer’s expansion there.

Trammell Crow completed Cochrane Technology Center in 2024 after seeing waves of workers commuting from Morgan Hill, near the southern end of Santa Clara County, to manufacturing jobs farther north in the Bay Area. Dallas-based Trammell Crow bet that the complex would increase demand for industrial space near workers in south Santa Clara County.

The industrial deal lands as Archer plans on increasing production in its manufacturing and testing facilities in California and Georgia, the company said in an annual filing earlier this year. The goal is to start by producing roughly 50 aircrafts each year, founder and CEO Adam Goldstein told investors in May.

Besides making air taxis, Archer is expanding into military aircraft production and related technology in partnership with Anduril Industries, which has been growing simultaneously near its Costa Mesa headquarters, most recently with a 177,766-square-foot industrial lease in Tustin in April and a nearly 1.2-million-square-foot lease near Long Beach Airport in January.

Archer has been in growth mode over the past year both in Silicon Valley and in Southern California. Last summer, it leased 105,000 square feet at 10 West Tasman Drive in San Jose, growing its headquarters presence in the South Bay city it calls home. Last fall, it acquired Hawthorne Municipal Airport, not far from Los Angeles International Airport, in a $126 million all-cash deal. The firm plans to use the Hawthorne airport as its operating hub for its Los Angeles air taxis network as well as an artificial intelligence aviation research center.

The exact number of employees that will move into Cochrane Technology Center has not been disclosed. Archer had 1,160 full-time workers and 500 contractors and temporary workers at the end of last year. The company plans to establish an air taxi network in the Bay Area with takeoff and landing hubs in South San Francisco, Napa, San Jose, Oakland and Livermore.

— Chris Malone Méndez