New San Francisco Apple Store gets final approval

The San Francisco Board of Directors on Tuesday gave final approval for a major new Apple store to be built in Union Square, a high-traffic tourist area in downtown San Francisco.

The new store is designed by Foster + Partners, the UK-based architecture firm that designed the company's new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, slated to open in 2016. So clearly, the new location is something of a flagship store for the company, especially given its proximity to Apple's corporate home in Silicon Valley. Apple already has an existing store nearby, on Stockton Street.

"We are thrilled that the city of San Francisco has given its final approval to begin work on our new store and public plaza, which will make a wonderful addition to Union Square and create hundreds of local jobs," an Apple spokesperson told CNET. "Our Stockton Street store has been incredibly popular, welcoming over 13 million customers since it opened nine years ago, and we look forward to making a new home on Union Square."

The new store will reportedly be almost 25,000 square feet, boast floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and will require about 400 employees -- fifty more than at its current location.

The project was originally announced last May, and an Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac that the new Union Square location will be "more iconic than the glass cube in New York City."

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. We'll update this post when we hear back.