Fullerton : Hughes Aircraft Gets OK for 3 New Buildings

Hughes Aircraft Co. has won the city’s approval for three new buildings that will house offices for engineering, research, development and some light manufacturing.

The Fullerton Planning Commission Wednesday night heard protests from three or four residents and then approved the construction of three new buildings on 350 acres in the Sunny Hills area, said John Godlewski, an associate planner for the city.

Hughes spokesman Dan Reeder said the company, California’s largest manufacturing employer, plans to construct two buildings but has no definite plans for a third.

The two new buildings will consolidate several departments and will accommodate 1,000 to 1,500 employees in addition to the 11,000 at the existing facility, Reeder said.

The 189,000- and 195,000-square-foot buildings will include engineering offices, small laboratories for electronic research and some manufacturing and testing, Reeder said.

Godlewski said the residents who complained to Planning Commission members were concerned mostly with traffic the additional employees would generate. To alleviate the congestion, the company will schedule employees on a double shift, he said.