Apple's new "spaceship" campus will require little more work—and resources—to build than originally thought. A new piece at Businessweek looks at the details of the new headquarters, noting that Apple has apparently pushed back its plans to move into "Campus 2" by a year thanks to ballooning construction costs. One of the last major projects presented by former CEO Steve Jobs, Apple is now reportedly trying to cut at least $1 billion off the total cost of the building, though there are no signs that Apple's planning to back out of the project.
Jobs had originally presented the plans for the UFO-like campus building to the Cupertino city council in 2011, and the company continued toward approval with feedback from the community throughout 2012. The 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped building was mapped out to have many of the same amenities as the original campus at 1 Infinite Loop, including a restaurant and fitness center, but the general public won't be able to visit.
The idea was to move into the new campus by the end of 2015, but current Apple CEO Tim Cook said during February's shareholder meeting that the move-in date has been pushed back to 2016. According to Businessweek, that's because the cost has gone from less than $3 billion to "nearly $5 billion," citing five separate unnamed sources familiar with the project. "If their consensus estimate is accurate, Apple’s expansion would eclipse the $3.9 billion being spent on the new World Trade Center complex in New York, and the new office space would run more than $1,500 per square foot—three times the cost of many top-of-the-line downtown corporate towers," wrote Businessweek.
Because of this, Apple is reportedly working with its lead architect to cut $1 billion before construction begins. The apparent reason for the rising cost is largely because of Jobs' vision for a high-end, slick building that's both environmentally advanced and sports the "fit and finish" Apple's products are known for.
The Businessweek piece offers numerous critiques of the design—including that of the expensive, European curved glass required for the outer windows—while simultaneously pointing out that Apple has the cash (and then some) to cover those costs. Still, even Cook acknowledged recently that the Campus 2 design may not end up matching exactly with Jobs' vision.
"Steve put a lot of love and attention into this before he passed away,” Cook said during the annual shareholder meeting. "Hopefully we’ve made it better during the design phase. We want to do this right."
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