Sunnyvale, California — Ahead of the finalization of its proposed “spaceship” headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., according to a report from Mercury News, Apple has agreed to lease “a big research and office complex” in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is scouting even more space in the city, marking a major expansion outside of the tech titan’s hometown of Cupertino that could house more than 1,300 employees.
According to real estate agents from Colliers International, the Sunnyvale Research Center will potentially house thousands of Apple employees that could end up working in buildings Apple has leased or has been scouting in Sunnyvale, reports Mercury News.
However, it is not evident as to how many of these would be new hires, or how many would be transfers from existing Apple offices.
“Having Apple in Sunnyvale would be great,” said John Pilger, a spokesman for the city. “They are a fantastic company.”
Apple has rented an estimated 215,000 square feet in what is known as the Sunnyvale Research Center, and is expected to be occupied by the end of the first quarter of 2012, according to realty agents from Colliers International, which is marketing the office center.
“Apple is going to start moving into the buildings by the end of the first quarter,” said Donald Reimann, a senior vice president with Colliers. “This is really a good fit for Apple because it is close to their headquarters.”
Sunnyvale Research Center — Source: Colliers…
Apart from this expansion is outside Apple’s hometown of Cupertino, the new location in Sunnyvale is a short seven miles, or 12 minutes driving time, from the existing campus. It is expected that it will house around 860 people eventually, but it is unclear whether this place is intended for new hires or transfers from existing Apple offices.
The area is a perfect seedbed of technology, with industry heavyweights presently in the area are Advanced Micro Devices, Yahoo and NetApp all calling the city home.
The Sunnyvale Research Center is a four-building complex situated on the south side of East Arques Avenue between Lawrence Expressway and Commercial Street, across the way from Fry’s Electronics, according to the report. It is just seven miles and 12 minutes driving time from Apple’s main offices near Interstate 280 and North De Anza Boulevard. The company also apparently began renovations on another two buildings at 975 and 995 Benecia Ave., totaling over 100,000 square feet.
Interestingly, based on typical space usage, this massive space with all six buildings could possibly accommodate up to 1,300 Apple employees, and Mercury News said the company plans to have approximately 800,000 square feet of office space in Sunnyvale in the future. That space would hold up to 3,200 Apple employees. However, it is worth noting that Apple’s Spaceship campus under construction in Cupertino can hold up to 13,000 employees, and it could very well accommodate many of those moving to Sunnyvale in the meantime.
“Apple seems to be gobbling up everything they can,” said Chad Leiker, a vice president with Kidder Mathews, a realty firm. “They are taking a ton of space.”
Recent expansions by Google and Apple have created a construction boom in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara as new towers are being built in anticipation of growing tech companies’ need for space. These activity by major players suggests that the upswing in technology expansions of 2010 and 2011 could extend through 2012.