Apple said to have bought land for Texas campus expansion
County records show that the tech giant bought three plots of land adjacent to its Austin campus in preparation for its $304 million expansion in the area.
After some push and pull with the Texas authorities, it looks like Apple might have finally sealed the deal on its plans to expand its Austin campus. According to the Austin Business Journal, county records show that three tracts of land near its existing campus were sold to Apple on June 21.
"It's unknown how much Apple paid for the land or how many acres it bought, but officials at two real estate brokerages, which did not want to be identified, confirmed that the long awaited deal had closed," the Journal reports.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Apple's plans to expand its Austin campus in March, saying that the tech company would invest $304 million in the campus and create more than 3,600 jobs. For the expansion, the tech giant received a $21 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund. The governor's office said that this facility will be used to expand "customer support, sales, and accounting functions."
However, one month later, a glitch came up. Some county officials decided it wasn't necessarily the right move for the city, stating that the contract's mandate to give Apple $35 million to $36 million in incentives didn't do enough to protect the city. After a vote, the county commissioners finally decided to give Apple $5.4 million to $6.4 million in tax rebates over the next 15 years, along with incentives.
Since then, news on the expansion has been under wraps. CNET contacted Apple for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.