Apple is once again making a push for its huge, spaceship-like campus with a new report that outlines the benefits of building the 2.8 million square foot complex.
The report, prepared for Apple by Keyser Marston Associates, outlines the economic benefits to Cupertino - including business for area vendors, construction jobs, tax income for the city, and more.
As noted by the Silicon Valley Mercury News, the study comes about a week before Apple is expected to release an environmental impact report required by the city. Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney told the Mercury News that Apple might be trying to soften the blow of anything negative in the environmental study with this week's economic report.
That report argues that Apple's new campus - dubbed Apple Campus 2 or the "spaceship" building for its circular design - is "vital to the region" because it will: enable Apple to remain in Cupertino; add about 7,400 high-quality jobs to the region; increase revenue for local businesses; and boost the taxes paid to Cupertino.
"Apple's 16,000 employees make it Cupertino's largest single employer, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the city's job base," the report said. "Indirect and induced impacts support an additional 420 jobs in the city in 2012. With the completion of Apple Campus 2, Apple is expected to support more than 24,000 jobs in Cupertino alone."
When Steve Jobs first pitched Apple Campus 2 in 2011, he envisioned having employees move in by the end of 2015. A delay with the environmental impact report, however, pushed construction to 2014 and a move-in date until 2016.
Apple estimated that construction of the building will create 9,200 full-time jobs over three years. Apple also pledged to direct its contractors to designate Cupertino as the point of sale for construction materials.
"Additionally, Apple will pay approximately $10.6 million of 'construction tax' to the City pursuant to Chapter 3.32 of the city's municipal code," the report said. "The combined total of these two sources alone is $24.5 million, which will be deposited into the city's General Fund and available for discretionary city expenditures."
When completed, meanwhile, the building could also help boost spending at area businesses by about $2 billion, the report found.
Apple also made a case for its new building in a May 2012 brochure distributed to its neighbors. The document included a letter from Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, who insisted that "respect for our neighbors was a priority as we designed Apple Campus 2."
At this point, Apple has about 3,000 employees housed at its 1 Infinite Loop headquarters, which is 856,000 square feet. Another 13,000 workers are housed in leased space throughout Cupertino and nearby cities. Apple Campus 2 will allow these employees to work under one roof (though 1 Infinite Loop will remain) on land that Apple purchased from Hewlett-Packard several years ago.