Dive Brief:
- San Jose, CA, officials have recommended to the city’s planning commission and city council that they approve a development agreement with Apple for a new, 86-acre campus that could bring as many as 20,000 jobs to the area, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The site currently includes a 287,000-square-foot office complex and a six-story office and research building under construction, but it could eventually accommodate a campus of up to 4.15 million square feet.
- The development agreement between the city and Apple gives an advance go-ahead for additional building expansion for up to 15 years at the site, contingent upon "reserved discretionary approvals" in the agreement.
- Apple said it plans to build additional R&D facilities and office space at the site, but that the "spaceship" campus currently under construction in Cupertino, CA, — approximately 10 miles from San Jose — is still slated to be its headquarters and operational/administrative center.
Dive Insight:
"This project further demonstrates the confidence of tech leaders in San Jose's future as a global innovation center," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said. "We look forward to supporting Apple's long-term growth here."
There has been major speculation about exactly what use Apple will give the San Jose site. After sources at the California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed a meeting with Apple in August to discuss autonomous vehicle regulations, onlookers have been abuzz with the possibility that Apple will be working on its "Project Titan" self-driving car there, according to The Guardian. However, Apple has not made any indication that will be the focus of development at this campus.
Apple has also entered into a lease deal for 770,000-square-foot campus in Sunnyvale, CA, the high-profile property called Central & Wolfe. Apple’s space has yet to be built, but, in September 2015, the company entered into a 12-year, six-month lease term with two seven-year extension options.
The Sunnyvale property is only a few miles from Apple’s new $5 billion headquarters in Cupertino, a project that has been dubbed the "spaceship" because of its futuristic design, and Apple has said the building is as carefully engineered as the iPhone. The project hit a bump in construction in June of last year, though, when contractors Skanska and DPR Construction left the project midway through due to undisclosed reasons.
Outside California, Apple is preparing for the completion this year of a $300 million, 1.1-million-square-foot campus in Austin, TX. Apple took a reporter from the Austin American-Statesman on a tour in August to showcase what has already been completed.