By Roland Murphy for Arizona Builder’s Exchange
Defense contractor and aerospace firm Orbital ATK is planning an expansion and site improvements at its Gun Systems facility in Mesa, near Greenfield Road and Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway.
According to documents submitted to the city by Deutsch Architecture Group on behalf of Orbital ATK Gun Systems Company, LLC, the core of the project will be construction of a new 36KSF production and warehouse building.
Other improvements will be the creation of new 8-foot CMU walls to the north of the new building and on the eastern property line, replacing chain link fencing with metal picket fencing, building 62 new parking spaces and placing a new canopy between the existing administration building and the new production and warehouse facility.
Most of the floor space in the new building will be dedicated to warehousing inventory. A shipping and receiving station will be placed just inside the docks on the north side. “This portion of the building will also house the quality function of receiving inspection, which includes a team of inspectors and various types of inspection equipment,” the submittal states. There also will be cubicle and office space for clerical, production and transportation staff.
The south side of the building will be used for production. Part of the floor space will house machine tools for tooling, prototype production and repair work. A separate area will be dedicated to warranty repairs and processing. “A portion of the new production space will remain open for the near term to allow for additional assembly space tied to potential future growth of the business,” according to the city documents.
Building colors will be rust, cream and tan with anodized aluminum and fluted concrete accents.
City parking calculations require 121 spaces. Orbital ATK currently has 45 fulltime employees and plans to add 30 more with this development and another, eventual, 40KSF expansion. With the addition of the 62 new spaces, the total parking count will be 115. The company has requested approval for a six-space reduction in parking requirements under a Special Use Permit.
Current uses on the site include a 17KSF planning and management building, 15.6KSF barrel manufacturing facility, 7KSF of test firing areas across three buildings, and a 17KSF container farm.
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