Austin approves $8.6M incentive package for Apple campus
updated 10:00 pm EDT, Thu March 22, 2012
Creates 3,600 new jobs, worth $304M
The Austin City Council has voted unanimously in favor of an $8.6 million incentive package for Apple, as part of a $304 million deal to expand operations in the city. Combined with money from the state-level Texas Enterprise Fund and some tax breaks from the affected county government, Apple will see a total of $33.5 million in incentives in exchange for 3,600 new high-quality administrative and engineering jobs.
According to newspaper reports, Apple had also been looking at a site near Phoenix Arizona as well, however the iPad maker already has facilities in Austin and an existing 3,100 workers. The new expansion would be home to a new Americas Operations center and be built on 38 acres of land with at least one million square feet of office space. Apple answered questions put to it by city council members last week.
The city is also home to a Samsung factory that produces Apple's custom-designed A-series chips, which are used in most iOS devices. The importance of that facility may grow if Apple moves more of its chip-designing engineers to the Austin facility, where work on the unannounced A6 is already underway. Apple agreed to build the campus in Austin earlier this month, contingent on all the incentive packages being approved. The Austin City Council was a crucial first test that is likely to ensure passage of the other incentive packages.
