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Apple's 'spaceship' HQ now on track for mid-2016 opening

The company has faced some delays and might not be able to start working on its project until 2014.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
Apple's proposed headquarters Apple

Apple's plans for building a spaceship-like headquarters have hit a bit of a rough patch, according to a new report.

The construction of Apple's new headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., may not be completed until mid-2016, Bloomberg reported today, citing an updated proposal filed with the city. An earlier proposal had Apple breaking ground this year, but the city of Cupertino likely won't complete its environmental impact survey until June, potentially pushing back the ground breaking to 2014.

Apple had hoped to start moving into its new digs in 2015.

Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs laid out plans for the new headquarters last year. The headquarters is designed in one big circle featuring four stories and a whopping 2.8 million square feet. Apple said last year that it hopes to have 12,000 people on the campus -- up from about 2,800 in its current headquarters. However, in revised proposals, that figure has jumped to up to 14,200.

In a statement before the Cupertino City Council last year, Jobs said that the building, which is "a bit like a spaceship landed," doesn't have a single "straight piece of glass...it's all curved." The campus will be 80 percent landscape with 7,000 trees.

Apple's 'spaceship'-like campus reboot (images)

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