A reported lease that would bring air taxi manufacturer Archer Aviation to the Cochrane Technology Center in Morgan Hill has not been confirmed by the company or city officials.
Matt Mahood, Morgan Hill’s director of economic development, said the city is not ready to discuss the matter, noting that Archer Aviation has not yet acknowledged a lease agreement for a massive industrial complex on Cochrane Road.
“We’ve had lots of conversations with Archer Aviation, and we look forward to celebrating with them when the time is right,” Mahood said.
Archer Aviation did not respond to a request for comment.
Trade publications including the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported this month that Archer Aviation had leased the entirety of the five-building 501,000-square-foot industrial site developed by Trammell Crow Company. The reports said the deal would give the San Jose-based company additional manufacturing space as it works toward its first passenger flights later this year.
The Cochrane Technology Center, built on a 30-acre site, was completed in 2024 and has sat vacant. Archer has been expanding its footprint in the South Bay in recent years, including a 105,000-square-foot office lease in San Jose, according to reporting by the Mercury News in August 2025.
Reports about a Morgan Hill lease also come as Archer moves ahead with a separate expansion in Southern California. In late 2025, the company obtained a master lease of Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles from the City of Hawthorne, according to a December press release.
The airport is intended to serve as a hub for Archer’s planned Los Angeles air taxi network, with a goal of having the full network operational in time for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Archer’s primary product is “Midnight,” a piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to carry four passengers on short urban trips. The vehicle is still in the final stages of FAA certification, having closed Phase 3 of the FAA’s four-phase certification process, according to a May press release.
The company has also entered into defense contracts with the U.S. Air Force to develop military applications for its vehicles, including a partnership with Anduril Industries, a Southern California-based defense technology company, to build a new AI-powered autonomous multirole UAV called “Halo” for both commercial and defence applications.
