Photos show Apple preparing to build store inside new World Trade Center hub

While Apple has not yet officially announced that it will open up a store in the World Trade Center’s new transportation hub in New York City, there have been reports that such a store has been in the plans for the past two years. Today, a source who has been inside of the yet-to-be-opened Oculus shopping section of the hub has sent us photo evidence that Apple is preparing to open up a store in the shopping area. Above is a photo from this week showing the space for the store, but formal construction has not yet begun, according to the source.

The permit shown above confirms that this space belongs to Apple, and the source said that the store is located in the shopping area’s most “prime location.” The store will apparently span two floors and may reach close to 10,000 square feet on each floor, according to the source. Of course, Apple Stores have repair and business operations enclosed within its spaces, so the actual shopping area for customers would be smaller. Given that construction has not yet begun, it seems unlikely that the store would open until the end of this year at the very earliest.

The new mall inside the World Trade Center transportation hub is known as the Oculus (Curbed has a great photo tour of the rest of the hub) and will officially open in March. The several billion dollar and multi-year endeavor is also rumored to house brands such as Breitling, Montblanc, Disney, John Varvatos, and Hugo Boss among other fashion and accessory companies. Apple’s new store within the center will add to the large tally of Apple Stores currently in the state of New York, which currently stands at 19. In other New York Apple Store news, the company’s upstate store in Crossgates is re-opening tomorrow with a new design led by Jony Ive that includes large screens, plants, and a larger glass front.