Apple prepares to occupy 200,000 square feet of temporary space ahead of new $ 1 billion North Carolina campus

In April, Apple announced an investment of $ 430 billion over the next five years to create more than 20,000 new jobs as the company continues to grow. An important part of that plan is a new engineering and research center in North Carolina where Apple will invest more than $ 1 billion and hire at least 3,000 employees.

Blend of seven properties in Research Triangle Park owned by Apple

Apple actually acquired the land for its new North Carolina campus in late 2018, buying around 280 acres at Research Triangle Park (RTP) near the state capital of Raleigh for around $ 50 million, but while ‘Apple announced plans for a new campus in Austin, Texas, around this time it has been silent on its RTP plans until this year.

It will take several more years for the Apple campus at RTP to be operational. The company is therefore moving forward with plans for more than 200,000 square feet of temporary space in the nearby town of Cary, MacRumors confirmed.

Apple will take the most recently built facility in a three-building complex built over the past eight years for insurance company MetLife. With the global health crisis impacting the needs of businesses around the world, MetLife consolidated its Cary operations into two buildings on campus and made the entire third building available for rent.

Apple will take Building 3 (left) on the MetLife campus in Cary, NC

Based on plans filed with the City of Cary, Apple will take the entire seven-story “MetLife III” building, which totals more than 220,000 square feet. An initial phase of construction for Apple includes the first three floors of the building, but documents from the project architect indicate that Apple “intends to occupy the entire building in the near future.”

Development plans for Apple’s renovation were filed with the city at the end of June and were approved on July 8 and 9, paving the way for construction to begin. The documents say the initial renovations will cost nearly $ 5.5 million and are fairly limited in scope, with Apple largely keeping the open plan already in place and previously used by MetLife.

Layout of the second floor (click to enlarge)

Apple will selectively demolish flooring and wall coverings in some areas of the first three floors and reconfigure some spaces to customize things as it sees fit, but Apple will avoid major changes and expense given that its rental is expected to be rather short. . -lived.

There doesn’t seem to be any signs of progress on Apple’s future RTP campus yet, but that’s not too surprising given that the announcement was made just a few months ago and Apple is likely continuing. to work with architects and others to finalize his plans.