Company leaving room to grow?

Apple owns an extra 70 acres across the street from its new data center finishing construction in Maiden, North Carolina, according to data from Catawba County's Geospatial Information Services. The main facility, measuring some 500,000 square feet, sits on a 183-acre plot. People in Maiden are reportedly speculating that the 70-acre area will simply be used for office space, but the land may also back claims that Apple is planning to grow the data center's size, perhaps even beyond a rumored doubled amount.

Based on timing and other factors, the plot is believed to be unconnected to architectural renderings that were recently discovered, pointing to two side-by-side buildings. Apple may need plenty of additional room. If the center is indeed intended to stream iTunes content, as a number of reports have indicated, storage and bandwidth demands are likely to only keep growing along with the popularity of iTunes and Apple devices. The facility should begin operations by the end of the year, if not sooner.

by MacNN Staff