Apple gets green light on big plans for new HQ

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

It took five hours and fifteen minutes — and one last-minute deal-making session — but Apple Inc.'s multibillion-dollar, doughnut-shaped office project got the green light Tuesday at the Cupertino City Council.

Council members unanimously approved the 2.8-million-square-foot building, which Apple facilities executive Dan Whisenhunt said was fulfilling a "very important part" of late co-founder Steve Jobs' legacy.

"A little more than two years ago at this same podium Steve shared his excitement" for the project, he told council members as a standing-room-only audience began to settle in for the evening.
Still, despite the sense that the project's approval was a foregone conclusion, numerous sources tell me that the necessary votes were not secure as late as Tuesday morning. Community and industry leaders had reportedly been working the phones for the past several days to gain solid support from at least two wavering council members, who were most concerned about traffic impacts.
And a last-minute injection of an additional requirement for approval from Councilman Mark Santoro seemed to catch Apple execs by surprise late into the meeting Tuesday, adding some drama to the night.
Santoro moved to involve Apple in a study of possible infrastructure improvements related to a stretch of Wolfe Road that runs from the campus site to the Interstate 280 interchange.
That led Whisenhunt to respond, firmly, "The devil's in the details. One thing I'm not interested in is an open checkbook to a problem that's not caused by our project."
Shortly after, Mayor Orrin Mahoney called for recess, and Apple and city camps met behind closed doors. They returned more than a half hour later, with an additional condition of approval: That within 60 days, Apple pay the city $1 million to fund a transportation study of Wolfe Road between Homestead Road and Stevens Creek Boulevard -- a study that could include recommendations for physical infrastructure improvements or to establish a "community facilities district." And it was all smiles after the votes.