Apple purchases 43-acre developmental plot in San Jose for $138M

Map showing Apple’s San Jose property, via Silicon Valley Business Journal

According to a new report from Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple has purchased a 43-acre development plot in North San Jose. The report claims that Apple paid slightly more than $138 million for the property, which is located on North First Street in San Jose.

Today’s news comes just a month after Apple leased 300,000 square feet of already constructed building in North San Jose. Also last week, Apple leased 76,000 square feet of office space in San Francisco, marking the company’s first major office space in the city.

Apple’s acquisition of 43-acres in North San Jose means it could build a sizable presence in the city. The plot is already approved for 2.8 million square feet of office space, which is roughly the same size as Apple’s upcoming Campus 2 headquarters in Cupertino. It’s also notable that Apple chose to buy, not lease, this San Jose plot, signaling that it wants to have more control over what it can do to the area.

The possibilities with the latest transaction are wide open: The undeveloped land is approved for up to 2.8 million square feet of office space — about the same size as Apple’s under-construction Spaceship campus in Cupertino. But Lowe had been marketing plans from global architecture firm Gensler to build 1.8 million square feet in a sleek urban-style campus setting. Apple, of course, could do its own program at the site. As of Monday, no new building plans had been turned in for the project.

Apple’s recent expansions into San Jose and San Francisco aren’t all that surprising. Apple has maintained satellite offices across the United States and overseas including locations in Seattle, Boston, Sweden, England, and Japan. Apple is also, of course, currently developing its new Campus 2 headquarters in Cupertino, which open in 2016. You can read our full timeline of that project here. Just last week it was revealed that the new campus will feature a rooftop observation deck and visitor’s center.