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Apple has offices located around the Bay Area, in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose, but for the first time, the company is planning to expand into San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Business Times, Apple has leased 76,000 square feet of office space in the popular South of Market neighborhood (SoMa) in San Francisco.

Many startups and major tech companies are located in San Francisco, in the very neighborhood Apple is moving into. It is not clear what Apple plans to do with the office space, but Beats Music leases office space in San Francisco, so it's possible Apple will house its Apple Music employees in the city.

somaappleoffice.jpg

Though Apple's offices have long been located in the South Bay, many employees live in the city and face a daily hour-long commute by car or Apple bus, so San Francisco office space for at least some of the commuters will likely be welcome news. The ability to work in San Francisco could also help Apple recruit key employees that are reluctant to work outside of the city.

In the building Apple plans to sublease through 2022, employees will share office space with CBS Interactive, the main tenant. The 76,000 square foot space could accommodate an estimated 400 to 500 employees. It's not known what Apple is paying to rent the space, but SoMa is one of San Francisco's most expensive areas due to its popularity with tech companies. On average, rent in SoMa costs $66 per square foot, so Apple is likely paying millions of dollars per year to occupy the space.

News of Apple's San Francisco lease comes shortly after news that the company leased 300,000 square feet of space in North San Jose. Apple also recently expanded into Seattle, leasing office space in a popular downtown area.

Article Link: Apple Expands Into San Francisco With New Office Building Lease
 

KENESS

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2003
200
622
Hope they have earthquake insurance.

???

They are based in Cupertino, just a few miles from San Francisco, and as the article says already have office space all across the San Francisco Bay Area, just not in San Francisco itself until now. Their earthquake exposure hasn't changed in the slightest.

Living and working in an area that occasionally does have earthquakes isn't a death wish. Quite a few people do it. ;)
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
???

They are based in Cupertino, just a few miles from San Francisco, and as the article says already have office space all across the San Francisco Bay Area, just not in San Francisco itself until now. Their earthquake exposure hasn't changed in the slightest.

Living and working in an area that occasionally does have earthquakes isn't a death wish. Quite a few people do it. ;)
Quite a few of the major/popular internet/technology (and other) companies are based in the same overall Silicon Valley/Bay Area area (or even just California in general).
 

xbjllb

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2008
1,355
247
???

They are based in Cupertino, just a few miles from San Francisco, and as the article says already have office space all across the San Francisco Bay Area, just not in San Francisco itself until now. Their earthquake exposure hasn't changed in the slightest.

Living and working in an area that occasionally does have earthquakes isn't a death wish. Quite a few people do it. ;)

Downtown San Francisco is at FAR greater threat from a major earthquake in the near future than Cupertino or any of the surrounding areas. Comparing suburban office parks to major metropolitan areas when assessing earthquake damage is silly at best.

I repeat; I hope they are insured, and insured heavily.
 

FieldingMellish

Suspended
Jun 20, 2010
2,440
3,108
The article mentions Apple bus. I've not heard of that initiative before. How did this slip by and get done before the Apple car?
 

maxsix

Suspended
Jun 28, 2015
3,100
3,731
Western Hemisphere
This move seems to be geared towards keeping up Apple's image as much as convenience for those that live in SF. The only convenience I can image is for those at Apple that setup the annual SF events like WWDC, and others.

Frankly I seriously doubt that there's many Apple employees that actually live in one of the most expensive, small, heavily crowded, major metro cities in all of the USA. Once a resident myself, right out of college, I enjoyed SF prior to the high tech invasion which drove the already high prices to astronomical highs that are causing major issues today.

With it's astronomical real estate prices for eighty to one hundred year old homes, the few people I know that grew up in SF, fled (like I did) to the peninsula as adults where for the same amount or less they could have three times the square footage, a far newer if not brand new home with ample parking, and still have the high end image.

It will be interesting if Apple keeps it's operations there secret, or mentions just what departments they have moved there. I'd venture a guess if they comment it will be one of their carefully crafted statements just to get the press off their back. In many ways it's a surprise that they failed to do this before the ultra staggering lease factors hit.
 

KENESS

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2003
200
622
Downtown San Francisco is at FAR greater threat from a major earthquake in the near future than Cupertino or any of the surrounding areas. Comparing suburban office parks to major metropolitan areas when assessing earthquake damage is silly at best.

I repeat; I hope they are insured, and insured heavily.

I'm note sure is that is necessarily true, there are faults lines all across the Bay Area, and many other factors which go into where and how damage is most severely experienced. There is no reason at all to assume there is more likely to be an earthquake which damages this building as one that could potentially decimate the new spaceship campus. Even the experts struggle with the where's and the how big's and the when's.

But regardless, I quite confident Apple is covered JUUUST fine. Along with all the other many-multi-billions of dollars worth of companies in just exactly that same area. It isn't exactly a fringe idea to locate yourself in San Francisco.

Earthquakes are just a part of life. When a business opens up in Kansas, my first thought isn't about their tornado insurance.
 

/dev/toaster

macrumors 68020
Feb 23, 2006
2,478
249
San Francisco, CA
Frankly I seriously doubt that there's many Apple employees that actually live in one of the most expensive, small, heavily crowded, major metro cities in all of the USA. Once a resident myself, right out of college, I enjoyed SF prior to the high tech invasion which drove the already high prices to astronomical highs that are causing major issues today.

With it's astronomical real estate prices for eighty to one hundred year old homes, the few people I know that grew up in SF, fled (like I did) to the peninsula as adults where for the same amount or less they could have three times the square footage, a far newer if not brand new home with ample parking, and still have the high end image.

It will be interesting if Apple keeps it's operations there secret, or mentions just what departments they have moved there. I'd venture a guess if they comment it will be one of their carefully crafted statements just to get the press off their back. In many ways it's a surprise that they failed to do this before the ultra staggering lease factors hit.

You doubt it ? LOL what ?? You are very misinformed I have to say. I know quite a few people who live in San Francisco and commute down to Mountain View or Cupertino. Most of the big companies have a presence inside the city for those who prefer city living.

City living isn't about how much space you have. Sure, I could move out of the city and get an entire house instead of 1 BR apartment. But, I wouldn't be able to just walk to work or walk out my door to thousands of events.

Parking isn't an issue when you live in a city. I don't own a car, and only know 1 person who does. This is why companies like Google and Apple provide shuttles.

Yes, it's absurdly expensive here. But San Francisco has the best tech jobs in the country. I could make a few phone calls and have dozens of offers in a few days. It's a very strong employee market. Don't believe me ? Try to hire a dev in San Francisco and see not only how hard it is, but how high their pay requirements are.
 
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jclo

Managing Editor
Staff member
Dec 7, 2012
1,968
4,296
This move seems to be geared towards keeping up Apple's image as much as convenience for those that live in SF. The only convenience I can image is for those at Apple that setup the annual SF events like WWDC, and others.

Frankly I seriously doubt that there's many Apple employees that actually live in one of the most expensive, small, heavily crowded, major metro cities in all of the USA. Once a resident myself, right out of college, I enjoyed SF prior to the high tech invasion which drove the already high prices to astronomical highs that are causing major issues today.

With it's astronomical real estate prices for eighty to one hundred year old homes, the few people I know that grew up in SF, fled (like I did) to the peninsula as adults where for the same amount or less they could have three times the square footage, a far newer if not brand new home with ample parking, and still have the high end image.

It will be interesting if Apple keeps it's operations there secret, or mentions just what departments they have moved there. I'd venture a guess if they comment it will be one of their carefully crafted statements just to get the press off their back. In many ways it's a surprise that they failed to do this before the ultra staggering lease factors hit.

According to a 2013 report cited by San Francisco Business Times, 14 percent of Apple employees live in SF. That's a pretty good chunk.
 

macs4nw

macrumors 601
I can't believe Apple are expanding when there are features they could be improving on their products! :mad: As we know, there is only one person at Apple who does everything.
The optimist in me hopes that the new 76,000 square foot office space will be chock-full of employees working overtime to debug and improve..... right? :D

As far as the 'jack-of-all-trades' you were alluding to, you weren't thinking about that Ivy-League british fellow, whas'is name agin..... :confused::D
 
Last edited:

OriginalMacRat

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2007
591
863
Apple has offices located around the Bay Area, in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose, but for the first time, the company is planning to expand into San Francisco.

First time?

Apple already has a few offices in San Francisco.
 

Rocketman

macrumors 603
Downtown San Francisco is at FAR greater threat from a major earthquake in the near future than Cupertino or any of the surrounding areas. Comparing suburban office parks to major metropolitan areas when assessing earthquake damage is silly at best.

I repeat; I hope they are insured, and insured heavily.
They are leasing the space. If there is an earthquake of enough power to matter they will simply move elsewhere to space that is not wrecked. Calm down.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,069
30,944
According to a 2013 report cited by San Francisco Business Times, 14 percent of Apple employees live in SF. That's a pretty good chunk.
A lot of Apple's designers live in SF. But according to that New Yorker profile of Jony Ive they're getting 30,000 sq ft space in the new campus. But maybe he'll have a remote office there so he doesn't have to be chauffeured to Cupertino. ;)
 

xbjllb

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2008
1,355
247
They are leasing the space. If there is an earthquake of enough power to matter they will simply move elsewhere to space that is not wrecked. Calm down.

Who gives a ?! about the building? What about the people, loss of life, the music operation.

Not a smart move. Period.
 

Silencio

macrumors 68040
Jul 18, 2002
3,445
1,551
NYC
Who gives a ?! about the building? What about the people, loss of life, the music operation.

Not a smart move. Period.

It's a pretty new building. I remember CNet moved in when it was completed in the late 90s. It's completely up to code, so it should weather an earthquake just fine.

Name me a city or region that is immune to any and all potential natural disasters. I won't hold my breath.
 

sevoneone

macrumors 6502a
May 16, 2010
896
1,143
Easy to say when a big one hasn't happened in so many years.

I've seen tornados, hurricanes and floods have more impact on human life in this country in the past 15 years than earthquakes in California. Engineers have done a pretty good job figuring out ways to keep a structure standing when the ground shakes, but I have not seen much improvement in entire towns getting tossed to crap when a couple of tornados touch down. In either case, being prepared and a plan of action when the moment strikes is what saves lives.
 

AlecZ

macrumors 65816
Sep 11, 2014
1,173
123
Berkeley, CA
It's a pretty new building. I remember CNet moved in when it was completed in the late 90s. It's completely up to code, so it should weather an earthquake just fine.

Name me a city or region that is immune to any and all potential natural disasters. I won't hold my breath.
Syria, off the top of my head.
Edit: Actually no, Qatar, unless you count sandstorms. I cheated and checked the natural disaster risk list for this one. It's rare to be that safe.
 

kds1

Suspended
Feb 17, 2013
820
324
New York, New York
Easy to say when a big one hasn't happened in so many years.

Give me a break dude. Are you scared of living on planet earth? Anything can happen. Ridiculous (and I used to live in Los Angeles, so I know a thing or two about EQ's. I was there for the Big Bear/Landers twin quakes (two seperate quakes that happened three hours apart), and the 1994 Northridge Quake).
 
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