Apple’s ‘spaceship’ campus gets final approval in Cupertino
Apple’s proposed project for it’s Apple Campus 2 has received the final approval from the City Council. The Cupertino City Council gave Apple an initial approval back in October 2013, awaiting for a final voting in order to proceed. On Tuesday night, Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney confirmed, “We’re eager to see it happen. Go for it.” Construction will begin with demolition of the former 171 acre HP campus that is already on the site later this year.
With Cupertino City Council approval, Apple will enter into an official twenty year long Development Agreement with Cupertino. As part of the agreement, Apple will increase the amount of tax it pays to the City of Cupertino. Last year, Cupertino refunded $6.2 million of the $12.7 million sales tax it received from Apple-related purchases, but in the future, that rebate will be reduced from 50 percent of the tax that Apple pays to 35 percent.
Steve Jobs himself said the campus is designed like a spaceship, with a glass sheathed oval shaped, 2.8 million square foot building and an underground parking facility that can hold 2,400 vehicles. The campus will also include a 100,000 square foot fitness centre and a 120,000 square foot auditorium. The project’s centerpiece mostly powered largely by solar and fuel cells, will be surrounded by 100 acres of greens to restore native vegetation to Cupertino.
The spaceship campus will start housing Apple employees by mid 2016
The campus was originally planned to open in 2015, but due to some delays, the spaceship campus will start to house Apple employees by mid 2016.
