Apple Campus 2, Corporate Headquarters Of Apple Inc., Cupertino, California, United States

In April 2006, Steve Jobs announced to the city council of Cupertino that Apple had acquired nine contiguous properties to build a second campus, the Apple Campus 2. It will be located one mile east of the existing facility. Originally expected to break ground in 2013 and open in 2015, the project has experienced delays and is now expected to start in 2014 and open in mid-2016. The proposed second campus is also next to a Superfund site with a groundwater plume.
Apple has had a presence in Cupertino since 1977, which is why the company decided to build in the area rather than move to a cheaper, distant location. Purchases of the needed properties were made through the company Hines Interests, which hid the name of Apple as a buyer to keep costs from skyrocketing. Among the sellers of the properties were Summerhill Homes (a plot of 8 acres (32,000 m2)) and Hewlett-Packard (three abandoned buildings of their campus in Cupertino, among others).
The land cost was estimated at USD $160 million. The new campus design will take 3 to 4 years, and the project cost is estimated at USD $500 million. However in 2013 the total cost was estimated to be nearer to $5 billion. Until April 2008, Apple had not sought the necessary permits to begin construction, so it was estimated that the project would not be ready in 2010 as originally proposed; however, the buildings on the site are being currently held by Apple for its operations. In November 2010 it was revealed by MercuryNews that Apple had bought an additional 98 acres (400,000 m2) no longer used by HP, just north across Pruneridge Ave. This space used to be the HP campus in Cupertino before it was relocated to Palo Alto. The estimated amount paid for the land is USD $300 million. Additionally, El Economista revealed that worldwide acclaimed architect Lord Norman Foster is in charge of the design of the new campus.
On June 7, 2011, Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs presented to Cupertino City Council details of the architectural design of the new buildings and their environs. The new campus, on a site now totalling 175 acres (0.71 km2), is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building of approximately 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 m2), which will include a café for 3,000 sitting people, be surrounded by extensive landscaping, and offer parking both underground and in a parking structure. Media reports widely described the new structure as "spaceship". Other facilities include a 1,000 seat auditorium, 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) of R&D facilities, a fitness center, an orchard, and a dedicated generating plant as primary source of electricity (powered by natural gas and other more environmentally sound means). Jobs: "It's got a gorgeous courtyard in the middle, and a lot more. It's a circle, so it's curved all the way round. This is not the cheapest way to build something." Every pane of glass in the main building will be curved.