Fayetteville-based Sage Partners announced Monday that it has leased 55,882 square feet of space at the former Hawker facility at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport to Mountain Home aviation services firm Fly Arkansas LLC.
Fly Arkansas plans to begin operations at the airport facility in October 2015, offering aircraft leasing, rental, management and other aviation services. This is the company’s third Fixed Based Operator (FBO) facility, and it’s first in Little Rock, company officials said.
Constructed as a state-of-the-art aircraft build-out and maintenance facility, the former Hawker headquarters will now serve as Fly Arkansas’ base of operations in Little Rock. The aviation company has 24 employees, including 16 who will be located in Little Rock.
“Our team is very pleased to make this first new lease at the former Hawker property,” said Mark Saviers, Managing Partner of the Sage Partners Little Rock office. “Fly Arkansas is an excellent fit for the space, and their opening will build leasing momentum for this tremendous facility, which has a lot to offer a variety of companies.”
In addition to providing general aviation services, Fly Arkansas will also provide hangar space and aircraft maintenance, as well as selling aviation fuels. The facility is undergoing renovations of roughly $750,000 before beginning operations there in October, company officials said.
Hawker Beechcraft filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2012, and later that year shutdown operations, which left hundreds of local workers without jobs. At its peak, the Hawker hanger at the Little Rock airport employed more than 600 employees at the private jet finishing facility.
According to Sage, which has offices in Fayetteville and Little Rock, the remainder of the former Hawker facility can be subdivided or leased in total. The facility, which has 406,185 square feet of space, is being co-marketed by Sage Partners and Jones Lang LaSalle, a global commercial real estate services firm.
