Apple finally won rezoning approval for the Cupertino location that could be part of a second company campus in the city. Apple purchased the location in 2006, and the company is currently using the existing buildings for employee office space.
Apple has been waiting eight months for city officials to approve the rezoning, according to the LA Daily News. The industrial location had previously been rezoned as residential for a townhouse and condominium project that fell through, but is now zoned as industrial and residential.
Once completed, the campus will cover about 50 acres, and will include a one acre area zoned as a public park.
There aren't any plans yet to build a second campus yet, but the rezoning opens the door for Apple to start working on ideas. "Right now, what we are trying to do is figure out what we have... from a planning perspective," said Apple representative Michael Foulkes.
The rezoned location is part of nine properties Apple purchased in 2006 in Cupertino across from the HP facility. At the time, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told city officials the company planned to build a facility that could hold between 3,000 and 5,000 employees.
"Our plan is to take down the existing buildings and put up more efficient structures," Mr. Jobs said.
Currently, Apple has employees in offices scattered across Cupertino because there isn't enough space available at its current campus. Adding a second campus would let the company bring those employees would create enough office space to consolidate employees in two campus locations instead of relying on rented offices around the Cupertino area.