Apple Park boosting local economy with property boom, influx of shoppers
The construction of Apple's new headquarters is helping improve the fortunes of those living close to the Cupertino campus, including increases in development projects, attempts by businesses to anticipate the influx of Apple employees to the area, and increased real estate prices as some of the benefits stemming from Apple Park's creation.
The campus, which includes its signature 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped building, will pay host to around 12,000 Apple employees when it is fully operational. This influx of people has prompted action by businesses to capitalize on the situation, with a report from The New York Times highlighting the incoming local improvements as the campus heads towards completion.
Approximately 95 development projects are being planned for Sunnyvale, a nearby town to Apple Park, activity that city manager Deanna J Santana told the report she had not seen before. In Cupertino, one Main Street "living and dining complex" opened in early 2016, but will expand this year with the introduction of the downtown enclave The Lofts, a community consisting of 120 apartments, shops, and restaurants.
The Residence Inn in Main Street Cupertino is also customizing its service for Apple employees and the firm's partners. The guest facilities will be upgraded with Mac desktops and high-speed connections to the Internet, after Sand Hill Hotel Management consulted with Apple about the needs of its employees.
"All the things we have, lined up with what they needed," said Sand Hill partner Mark Lynn. "They will represent a large part of our business."
The report does go into some detail about Apple's dealings with the local community, both from the positive and negative aspects. Apple hosted more than 110 community gatherings during the design phase of the campus, including publishing community mailers five times to 26,000 households about what to expect during the construction period.
One notable debate concerned Homestead Road, a thoroughfare between Apple Park and the Birdland neighborhood, with Cupertino officials planning to construct a tree-lined median to calm traffic on the road, with Apple offering to cover the construction costs. Local homeowners objected to the move, suggesting its creation would eliminate one lane and make traffic worse, a claim eventually agreed upon by the city after a Sunnyvale town meeting.
During the construction residents of Birdland complained about the early-morning construction rigs traveling along the streets, with road closures, green sheeted barriers, and potholes causing issues for the community. Dan Whisenhunt, Apple VP of real estate and development, advised the company attempted to answer every complaint received, "and if the issue is serious enough, I will personally visit to see what is going on."
One example is the complaint from one resident that her car was covered with dust from the construction. Apple responded by sending carwash certificates to clean the vehicle.
Despite the issues, homeowners have benefited from the extended real estate boom, with prices increasing 15 to 20 percent year after year since Apple announced its construction project, with local real estate agent Art Maryon advising bidders are typically offering 20 to 25 percent over the asking price for properties. Some residents have taken advantage of these increases, selling to Apple employees at a high price and moving to a quieter area, but those staying are anticipating increased traffic and parking issues when the Apple employees move in.
One thing residents will probably look forward to will be the reduction in tourists, wanting to photograph the buildings while they still can. Apple has planted 9,000 trees within the campus, which will block the view of the buildings to passers by.
Once the man-made forest has grown, the public will be provided access to a small part of the campus in a dedicated visitors center.
The campus, which includes its signature 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped building, will pay host to around 12,000 Apple employees when it is fully operational. This influx of people has prompted action by businesses to capitalize on the situation, with a report from The New York Times highlighting the incoming local improvements as the campus heads towards completion.
Approximately 95 development projects are being planned for Sunnyvale, a nearby town to Apple Park, activity that city manager Deanna J Santana told the report she had not seen before. In Cupertino, one Main Street "living and dining complex" opened in early 2016, but will expand this year with the introduction of the downtown enclave The Lofts, a community consisting of 120 apartments, shops, and restaurants.
The Residence Inn in Main Street Cupertino is also customizing its service for Apple employees and the firm's partners. The guest facilities will be upgraded with Mac desktops and high-speed connections to the Internet, after Sand Hill Hotel Management consulted with Apple about the needs of its employees.
"All the things we have, lined up with what they needed," said Sand Hill partner Mark Lynn. "They will represent a large part of our business."
The report does go into some detail about Apple's dealings with the local community, both from the positive and negative aspects. Apple hosted more than 110 community gatherings during the design phase of the campus, including publishing community mailers five times to 26,000 households about what to expect during the construction period.
One notable debate concerned Homestead Road, a thoroughfare between Apple Park and the Birdland neighborhood, with Cupertino officials planning to construct a tree-lined median to calm traffic on the road, with Apple offering to cover the construction costs. Local homeowners objected to the move, suggesting its creation would eliminate one lane and make traffic worse, a claim eventually agreed upon by the city after a Sunnyvale town meeting.
During the construction residents of Birdland complained about the early-morning construction rigs traveling along the streets, with road closures, green sheeted barriers, and potholes causing issues for the community. Dan Whisenhunt, Apple VP of real estate and development, advised the company attempted to answer every complaint received, "and if the issue is serious enough, I will personally visit to see what is going on."
One example is the complaint from one resident that her car was covered with dust from the construction. Apple responded by sending carwash certificates to clean the vehicle.
Despite the issues, homeowners have benefited from the extended real estate boom, with prices increasing 15 to 20 percent year after year since Apple announced its construction project, with local real estate agent Art Maryon advising bidders are typically offering 20 to 25 percent over the asking price for properties. Some residents have taken advantage of these increases, selling to Apple employees at a high price and moving to a quieter area, but those staying are anticipating increased traffic and parking issues when the Apple employees move in.
One thing residents will probably look forward to will be the reduction in tourists, wanting to photograph the buildings while they still can. Apple has planted 9,000 trees within the campus, which will block the view of the buildings to passers by.
Once the man-made forest has grown, the public will be provided access to a small part of the campus in a dedicated visitors center.
Comments
LOL
Hopefully rents will stabilize or even moderate over time but i see a lot of people ending up having to move due to this project. You wont be the only one.
The moral of the story here is too avoid supporting local regulations that will eventually be used against you and your freedoms.
This is why many companies actively look for places in the country that are low cost or need a boost. These places allow a company to offer a higher standard of living to its employees at a far lower cost to the company.
Having spent time in the bay area i can say with some confidence that the place suvks. You can buy a very decent home in modt parts of the country for a $100000 and not be able to buy a dog house for that in the bay area. Not to mention suffering from Califirnia crime and liberalism.
By the way im talking small ranch sized single family housing here. Something an engineer or technician might want to move into at the start of a new job.
If you want a cheap house next to the Apple campus, should we force property owners that took the risk, bought property, developed it, and making a profit from that risk from charging rates that reflect the market? Better yet, why don't we force sellers to sell their home "cheap" so that future owners can afford it, then be prohibited from ever selling their property at a profit? Would that be better?
The reality is grim. Rents will not "stabilize" as you're hoping simply because it won't. Everyone wants to live in the Bay Area. So the only option is to build up, and eventually the Bay Area will look like a very crowded version of Hong Kong.
Everyone complained about the high real-estate prices of San Francisco. So then they all moved to Oakland, or Sacramento, or Oregon/Washington, and guess what? They are having the EXACT same problem now because (surprise), everyone wants to live there.
Buying property on the west coast on the cheap was a luxury our parents/grandparents had. That opportunity is essentially gone. Everyone wants the tax revenue that companies like Apple brings in, but then turns right around and complains about the negative aspects of it.
As for crime, there is no "California crime" problem I'm aware of -- just metro crime. I now live in the deep south and we have intense crime. So do other major US cities all outside of CA.
And I have no idea where you could go to get a good house for only $100,000. Likely not anyplace that is going to offer the salary, quality of life, or cultural amenities that I enjoy.
I happened to be looking at housing prices across the country the other day and it sees like there's fewer and fewer places where decent housing prices are reasonable. In the big cities where people want to or have to live, housing prices have become completely absurd. An Archie Bunker house near where I live (really -- looks exactly like the Bunker house) is asking $950,000 and it probably needs $200K of renovation and will have high property taxes.
Personally, I don't see how this is sustainable. I predict another housing crash. I just don't see how there are enough people who earn enough to pay these prices.
The schools are the best in the country because Cupertino is essentially a gated community where the price of admission is on the order of $1.5-2M. That makes all the rich kids the progeny of very smart VP and GM parents, and keeps out the riff-raff lower-class students. It has nothing to do with the schools or the teachers - it's intentional segregation, which is quite amusing considering the Bay Area is supposed to be so diverse. They welcome immigrants and refugees and dreamers...only not in MY town.
We're currently in the bubble of "Apple will reign forever" and riding that wave...for now.