Fire up the excavators! Apple granted final approval for ‘spaceship’ campus; company agrees to reduced tax rebate deal

Apple on Tuesday “received final approval for its Apple Campus 2 project from the Cupertino City Council after gaining a unanimous initial approval back in October,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors. “‘Go for it,’ said Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney, following tonight’s unanimous vote in favor of the project. ‘We’re eager to see it happen. Go for it.'”

“With the vote, the Cupertino City Council approved the necessary ordinances to allow Apple to enter into an official Development Agreement with the City of Cupertino, which will see the company receiving its full set of building permits on November 20,” Clover reports. “Apple has already received ancillary permits allowing it to begin demolition of the former HP campus that is already on the site.”

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“Apple has agreed to increase the amount of taxes it pays to the city of Cupertino, Calif., as part of a development agreement expected to receive final approval Tuesday night,” Chris O’Brien reports for The Los Angeles Times. “The increase is actually a reduction in the size of a sales tax rebate the city gives to Apple each year.”

“Through last year, the city of Cupertino refunded about 50% of the sales taxes it received from Apple-related purchases back to the company,” O’Brien reports. “Going forward, the city will only refund 35% of those sales taxes, according to terms of the new agreement. ‘This item was one of many negotiated between Apple and the city of Cupertino as part of the development agreement,’ said Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney in an email. ‘The Apple 2 campus is expected to have long-term impacts on the city with respect to traffic and other issues and Apple agreed to a financial offset for some of those impacts.'”

“According to an economic development report released this summer by Apple, sales by the company generated $12.7 million in sales tax for Cupertino in 2012. Under the terms of old rebate agreement, Cupertino gave $6.2 million of that back to Apple,” O’Brien reports. “Had the lower rate been in effect in 2012, Cupertino would have kept an extra $1.8 million. For a city with projected general fund revenues of $51.4 million for the current fiscal year, that extra money will be a nice bonus.”

 
“Apple must clear 176 acres of land, including thousands of trees and the 26 current buildings on the site. The plans call for transforming the land from 80% concrete to only 20%, with the remainder being densely covered with trees and other landscaping goodies,” O’Brien reports. “The centerpiece, though, will be the 2.8-million-square-foot circular headquarters that will have four floors and an exterior almost entirely of curved glass. The new facility will be home to up to 14,200 employees, almost triple the number previously working on the site.”

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Apple presents video of new ‘spaceship’ campus ahead of Cupertino city council vote – October 28, 2013