Apple has apparently signed a 10-year lease on 313,978 square feet of industrial manufacturing space in Milpitas, California. While it’s not yet known what Apple intends to do with the space, as it could be used for manufacturing, research and development, or warehousing needs.
This also comes at a strange time frame for Apple, especially given that Silicon Valley warehousing space is in short supply at the moment. With the lease, total vacancy for these types of properties in the area drops from 1.5 percent to 0.7 percent.
The deal could also mark Apple speculating that it could require all this space. As such, the company might feel it’s best to lease it now, when prices might be cheaper.
The initial report also indicated that Apple might be paying as much as US$0.90 per square foot for the space,
It’s thought that the considerable space could be put to use for Apple’s ongoing Project Titan autonomous vehicle effort. Apple already has a myriad of spaces around Silicon Valley dedicated to Project Titan. It remains to be seen, however, if the company still plans to make an actual car, and if it does, whether it would manufacture the device in Silicon Valley.
Apple could also be using the space for testing as well as making the robots that will assemble its devices, component testing, component manufacturing, or even just warehousing something like a car being assembled elsewhere.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via The Mac Observer and the Silicon Valley Business Journal