“The ‘spaceship’ of Silicon Valley has landed in Cupertino, but the question remains: How much did it cost to build? Construction data and analytics startup BuildZoom estimated in October that the new Apple campus cost more than $1.1 billion, based on the building permits,” Seung Lee reports for The Mercury News. “But longtime Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone estimates that costs for the iPhone maker’s shiny new campus far exceeded BuildZoom’s estimate, and may be closer to $5 billion — or just about the cost of 5 million iPhone X’s.”
“Apple could not be reached for comment on the cost. Stone said the nearly $4 billion discrepancy between his new estimate and BuildZoom’s earlier figure for Apple Park’s construction cost highlights a common misunderstanding of how building permits work and what their purpose is,” Lee reports. “Building permits are just a preliminary road map to how much a construction project may cost before the first shovel is turned. They don’t include the costs for labor, overtime, additional materials and redesign, all of which add significantly to the final tab.”
“Apple Park’s exact construction costs will be factored into the final assessed property value, which has not yet been completed,” Lee reports. “The last time the Assessor’s Office released estimated Apple Park construction costs was September 2016, when it put the figure at $1.6 billion for costs up to January 1 of that year. But Stone now estimates the construction cost will likely be $5 billion. The Assessor’s Office said Apple Park’s final assessed value — the basis for the tax bill for the new campus — may be less than its final construction costs. That’s because certain materials and constructed goods may be valuable only to Apple and can’t factor into the assessed value, which also considers the fair market value of the property.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Factor in the costs of Apple’s Tim Cook, Jony Ive, etc. being colossally distracted by the project for years, as well.
AirPods: Late.
HomePod: Way late.
Mac Pro: Pfft.
We could go on and on with this list, unfortunately.
Apple employees and product users should rejoice that The Colossal Distraction is finally wrapping up!
SEE ALSO:
Apple started working on HomePod in 2012, so why are they so late to the smart speaker market? – November 21, 2017
Why Apple’s HomePod is three years behind Amazon’s Echo – November 21, 2017
Under ‘operations genius’ Tim Cook, product delays and other problems are no longer unusual for Apple – November 20, 2017
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook: The ‘operations genius’ who never has enough products to sell at launch – October 23, 2017
Apple’s Mac Pro debacle: Failure and future – May 8, 2017
Why is Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro taking so long? – April 18, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Garbage, just like Tim Cook’s Apple. Tim Cook needs to be fired pronto.
Five billion?!? I thought it ONLY cost one billion (and some change).
Don’t be so negative. This is an exceptional mausoleum to Apple. For hundreds of years people will visit the site to hear docents discuss how Tim Cook killed Apple with extravagance, pretentiousness, lack of innovation and discipline, and hubris.
Well said!
It is happening before our very eyes for years now and only the fanboys are in serious denial.
Apple needs a new leader.
Period!!!
Stupid whiners. Apple’s profits keep going up. Apple’s value keeps going up. It’s the #1 publicly traded company ON THE PLANET… by a long shot.
And, as always, if you don’t like what Apple is doing, why don’t you just piss off and buy other products you like. They’re JUST PHONES, COMPUTERS, ETC. Just a THING that does some tasks.
What kind of mental disorder causes this incessant whining about a company you don’t like?
“Stupid whiners.”
Sean, in case you have not noticed I am not a stupid whiner. Constructive critic, yes indeed.
“Apple’s profits keep going up. Apple’s value keeps going up. It’s the #1 publicly traded company ON THE PLANET… by a long shot.”
Yes, the iPhone gravy train Cook inherited from Steve is stronger than ever.
“And, as always, if you don’t like what Apple is doing, why don’t you just piss off and buy other products you like. They’re JUST PHONES, COMPUTERS, ETC. Just a THING that does some tasks.”
Your lack of maturity is showing.
“What kind of mental disorder causes this incessant whining about a company you don’t like?”
When did I ever say I don’t like Apple? The mental disorder is yours, BLIND Apple fanboy.
I have been an Apple fan since my Lisa.
Get a grip …
You clearly don’t know the meaning of the English term “constructive criticism”. Let me clarify that for you:
1. Make a SPECIFIC and CONCRETE point about what is you think is wrong.
2. Write one or more LOGICAL reasons why that is a problem.
3. Name the SPECIFIC and CONCRETE change you suggest.
4. Write the LOGICAL argument on how that would make things better.
THAT is constructive criticism. There is no place for name-calling or vague generalizations.
If you think what you write is constructive criticism, you are delusional in the extreme, i.e.
“It is happening before our very eyes for years now”
“only the fanboys”
“in serious denial”
“your lack of maturity is showing”
“blind”
“get a grip”
By the way, don’t anyone – including you – say I’m not using “constructive criticism”. I didn’t claim to be doing so. You, however, did.
Follow your own advice, you petulant fanboy.
Can you read? See above…
“By the way, don’t anyone – including you – say I’m not using “constructive criticism”. I didn’t claim to be doing so. You, however, did.”
Your making excuses for Apple’s failures, blunders, errors, miscalculations, and misrepresentations. That’s OK. We need people like you. You’re the perfect example of idiocy in action. Consider yourself the mouthpiece of Apple’s public relations department. You are the image of Apple now. You are Apple’s defender against all her critics. It’s a shame Apple isn’t paying you a dime.
You’re not even operating at a grade 6 level of rational thought.
I’m not making excuses for Apple. I’m criticizing your incessant, knee-jerk vacuous negativity.
“I’m not making excuses for Apple.”
Wow! I laughed at loud at that one, delusional fanboy. But I think it’s past your bedtime, sonny …
Did Apple do or not do anything worthy of criticism? Name it, just one thing. Prove your credibility. Prove your intelligence. Because if you believe that Apple is beyond criticism then you are nothing but a pathetic fanboy.
I don’t read anywhere where someone is accusing you of using “constructive criticism.” You are incapable of it, petulant fanboy …
“By the way, don’t anyone – including you – say I’m not using “constructive criticism”. I didn’t claim to be doing so. You, however, did.”
Are you always this clueless? The answer would be, YES. Run along home, little boy …
… it’s just a matter of these clowns needing attention they can’t get anywhere else, even if it’s a negative reaction. Hey wait a minute, that makes me think of someone else like that, now who was it … ?
“Stupid whiners.”
Sean, in case you have not noticed I am not a stupid whiner. Constructive critic, yes indeed.
“Apple’s profits keep going up. Apple’s value keeps going up. It’s the #1 publicly traded company ON THE PLANET… by a long shot.”
Yes, the iPhone gravy train Cook inherited from Steve is stronger than ever.
“And, as always, if you don’t like what Apple is doing, why don’t you just piss off and buy other products you like. They’re JUST PHONES, COMPUTERS, ETC. Just a THING that does some tasks.”
Your lack of maturity is showing.
“What kind of mental disorder causes this incessant whining about a company you don’t like?”
When did I ever say I don’t like Apple? The mental disorder is yours, BLIND fanboy.
I have been an Apple fan since my Lisa.
Get a grip …
Fanboys are very testy and mean spirited, easily offended by the truth, bigoted against all others, dull, unimaginative, insulting, and pathetically predictable.
Trolls
– are incessantly testy and negative,
– suffering from the delusion that the have THE TRUTH,
– and post the same dull, unimaginative, insulting, pathetically predictable, and vacuous whining over and over and over and over and….
Yawn …
How original, Sean. I am flattered that you imitated me.
Boy, you got that right! …
And, speaking as a Stockholder, just how much better would my dividends have been if they wouldn’t have spent $5B on that highly superfluously (and expensive per square foot) ‘Space Ship’?
Here, I’ll make the math easy for you:
$5B / 2.8 million square feet of office space = $1,785.71/sq ft
An Apple has roughly 5B shares outstanding, so each $1B saved would have been a +$0.20 benefit to stockholders over some lifespan. Call it 10 quarters and that’s +$0.02/q, which based on the current dividend of $0.63 would be a +3% increase in dividend payments.
Similarly, cutting the cost in half would have been roughly +$0.05/q for ten quarters, or an increase in dividend payments of +8%.
Calling people stupid for having a different opinion is Sean’s way of showing how to provide constructive criticism. So, Sean, insults and name calling are, by your definition, the highest form of intelligence and respect. And you wonder why people have little regard for you, mock you, laugh at you, despise you.
We are not calling you “names”. You actually ARE STUPID. Stupid!
Excellent! Thanks for proving my point.
Yeah it’s pricey but I must support anything donut shaped.
… the center was filled with raspberry jelly!
Now I understand all the sloppy upgrades and security fixes and HomePod delays.
I am so glad MDN is not running Apple. You guys have your head so far up your butt. You think you know everything about how to run a company. Puleeease. Obviously Apple knows what they are doing (in most reguards, there have been a few oh shit moments) but customers are still buying and more importantly, loving their Apple products, delay or no delay. Do the world a favor and STFU and stop pretending you could run the company better.
Constructive criticism of a company MDN is dedicated to is always a GOOD THING.
I believe you need to STFU!
The Troll Commandments
I am the holder of THE TRUTH.
Don’t have other opinions before me.
Don’t make idols of other opinions.
Praise my opinions, however vague, generalized and name-calley they may be.
Anyone with ANY other opinions is a fanboy.
Honour my opinions.
Don’t try to kill my opinions.
Don’t mess around with other opinions, other than mine, which you should remain faithful to.
Don’t lie by expressing other opinions.
Don’t covet other opinions.
Agree 100%. Apple has issues many. MDN is dead on. Apple makes majority of it billions on one product. When they can’t do that properly it gets frightening
You obviously don’t know failure when you see it.
So that would be some of your great “constructive criticism” would it?
I’m just pointing out facts, a litany of Apple errors, blunders, mistakes, miscalculations, musrepresentations. Apple should be correcting them, not me.
I’m simply repeating what is already known and reported. The duty and obligation is Apple’s alone to correct these errors, problems, and miscalculations. If you have any suggestions how Apple can extricate itself from its self-induced embarrassments, please, let Apple know. I’m sure that Tim Cook is waiting.
Was it a distraction? Quite probably.
Just how large of a feedback remains to be seen.
Is the reported open-office architecture a potential nightmare and setup for failure? Quite likely.
But we’ll have to see how it turns out in practice. This time next year, the move will have been completed and all employees will have a few months of experience in the new office and we will have a good amount of feedback.
Went to the Visitor’s Center yesterday. You can go to the upper level and see some of the palace, but not much. It’s frigging huge though. In the visitor’s center you can use special iPads to see an augmented reality view of the campus, complete with raising the roof and seeing everything underneath.
My point is that even though this was kind of cool, it’s proof that this project was a major distraction. An unnecessary amount of time and effort went into showing the place off through augmented reality, just an indication of how much focus there was on the entire construction and design effort of Apple Park itself. They better start focusing on new products, because if anyone really thinks they are innovating, I can sell you some land in Death Valley.
From some of what I’ve casually read, there was a lot of superfluously unnecessary “Apple Engineering” which was squandered on the project.
One such example that I can vaguely recall hearing about had something to do with interior doors and colossal wastes of time by Apple Exec’s …
Ah, here’s a link; Mercury News, 8 Feb 2017 “[takes] more than a year to approve a door handle…”:
Keep in mind …
This . was . for . a . freaking . mundane . interior . door . handle !