Apple begins demolition at spaceship site, clearing way for new campus

SVBJ File Rendering

Apple has pulled demolition permits to start clearing the 176-acre site of Apple Campus 2.

Nathan Donato-Weinstein: Real Estate Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal; Email | Twitter

In October, Apple facilities chief Dan Whisenhunt told the Cupertino Planning Commission the company would waste little time starting work on its huge new campus project.
"We'd build it tomorrow if you'd let us," he said.
Whisenhunt wasn't kidding.
A day after obtaining the final final approval from the Cupertino City Council to build the 2.8-million-square-foot project, Apple pulled demolition permits to knock down the existing structures on the 176-acre site. That's about 2.65 million-square-feet worth of space, according to documents submitted to the city.
"It's all happening real fast, and it's real," Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney told me Monday.
Apple pulled permits to demolish structures on 20 parcels of land on Nov. 20, according to city permit records. That is just hours after the city of Cupertino approved the "second reading" of a development agreement with the company, which means Apple has now received all the regulatory clearance needed to start building. (See my original approval story here.)
A joint venture of DPR and Skanska is the general contractor on the job. According to city permit records, NCM Demolition & Remediation is the subcontractor on the demo. They are the same company that orchestrated demolition inside of Hangar 1 at Moffett Federal Airfield and the de-skinning. Records show Apple applied for the permits between August and November.
Mahoney, who worked on the former Hewlett-Packard site for more than 20 years, said it was a little "bittersweet" that the buildings were being torn down. "But things change," he said. "The new building's just amazing."
Mahoney said on a recent tour of the site, he was amazed at the level of care Apple was taking to save some of the more significant trees. "I had heard they were saving trees, but we saw some that they been working on for a year to box up and move on the site," he said. "They've taken care to do that well."