Apple moves forward with RTP campus as new building details are revealed
An application filed last week in Wake County reveals new details regarding Apple’s future $552 million campus in Research Triangle Park.
On May 30, the county received a commercial use application for the site, located on the Wake County side of RTP near Cary and Morrisville. The land, currently undeveloped, straddles N.C. 540 below Lake Betz.
According to the application, Apple seeks to build a 73-foot-tall building with 324,000 square feet of office space. The company listed office buildings, accessory buildings and a parking deck in its description.
A Wake County spokesperson told The News & Observer that the county is currently reviewing the location’s site plan and storm water documents for permitting. Wake County hasn’t received any specific building plans for review, nor has Apple indicated when it plans to start construction, the spokesperson said.
Within a decade, Apple has pledged to employ at least 2,700 people at the campus, a figure which will eventually rise to 3,000. For now, Apple is leasing space on the MetLife campus in Cary.
What is known about Apple’s future RTP home
The site of Apple’s future campus is owned by a holding company called Acute Investments. Public documents obtained via a records request show Acute has filed for a several environmental permits over the past year.
In August 2022, a lawyer from the law firm Parker Poe, which was representing Acute, requested that some of the applications and supporting documents sent to Wake County regarding the Apple site be kept confidential, citing “trade secrets.”
The county has deemed some of the documentation confidential according to state statute.
Apple did not respond to questions about its construction timeline. It has not shared updates on its RTP campus since the project was first announced in April 2021.
The company has been in contact with the Raleigh Regional Office of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality regarding its campus, NCDEQ spokesperson Josh Kastrinsky said. He added his department “has not received any formal application materials, including any related to construction activities.”
Under Apple’s Job Development Investment Grant agreement with the state, the company can receive more than $845 million in payroll tax relief through the year 2061 if it meets its hiring and investment targets. Those goals start this year with a minimum of 126 employees.
As of Friday morning, Apple had a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion with its share price near an all-time high.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 11:43 AM.
