“Apple Inc. has selected Austin over Phoenix for a major operations center, but it did spend about a year quietly scouting the Phoenix area, according to two leading Arizona economic-development officials
“The company selected six potential sites in metro Phoenix and especially favored three sites in Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler because they could be built on quickly, according to Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and Don Cardon, CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority,” Beard reports. “Without giving Arizonans much of a chance to present their case or to negotiate, the maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers settled on Austin for a $304 million Americas Operations Center that is expected to employ up to 3,600 workers in 10 years. It is projected to handle operations in areas such as accounting, human resources and finance for all of North, South and Latin America. The proposed campus eventually is expected to encompass 1 million square feet.”
Beard reports, “The Austin City Council on Thursday on a 6-0 vote approved $8.6 million in property-tax abatements for the company, on top of $21 million in state incentives already offered by Texas Gov. Rick Perry… In Austin, questions lingered, too, especially about whether Texas governments really needed to offer incentives. Apple is rolling in cash, and it may have intended to locate in Austin all along and perhaps was not serious about the Phoenix area, said Jon Roberts, an Austin economic-development consultant.”
Much more in the full article here.
Related article:
Austin city council unanimously approves $8.6 million dollars in incentives for Apple Inc. – March 23, 2012