Apple's move into 'circular spaceship' HQ faces delay until 2016
Apple won't be moving into its "circular spaceship" headquarters in Cupertino, California, until mid-2016, much later than expected.
Apple's new HQ: Delay expected
The company has included the new timetable in an updated proposal submitted to the city earlier this month, said Bloomberg.
Originally Apple wanted to start on the 176-acre campus this year. But the city may not complete its environmental impact report until June, and Apple may not be able to start work until 2014.
“They could conceivably break ground in 2013, but only if everything goes smoothly,” said David Brandt, Cupertino’s city manager. “The project is running a little bit slow.”
In its original plan, the company said it envisioned moving in by 2015.
The new site, called Apple Campus 2, “will be a new home for our company and an important part of the lives of more than 12,000 Apple employees,” said Amy Bessette, a spokeswoman for Apple. “With that in mind, we have approached this project with the same care and attention to detail we pay when designing any Apple product. ”
The new document includes no major changes from the plan Steve Jobs presented to the council in June 2011, four months before he died. Apple submitted revisions that will let it complete the project without having to truck out any dirt, and wants to move a free-standing, 1,000- seat auditorium farther away from one of the surrounding roads than in the original plan.
“There’s nothing super-significant,” said Brandt. He said the city didn’t request any of the changes. “I think they are just constantly trying to improve the project.”
The circular four-storey main building at 2.8 million square feet will be one of the largest buildings in the world, as befits the world's largest company by market value. The city plans to post the new plan online after Thanksgiving.