When you live in a technopolis—and Austinians, I’m afraid they are—nonsense like “economic downturn” and “financial impracticability” are secondary concerns.
Despite the impending recession (a phrase that every business writer should just hit the ground running and create a label for right now), two tech companies with a huge presence in Austin are investing heavily in expansion in 2023. Just a week before the new year, Apple submitted applications for projects. for a total of $240 million to expand the north Austin campus, and Tesla has applied for projects totaling over $700 million for improvements at Giga Texas.
Since the Meta abandoned its grand plan to take over a 66-story downtown skyscraper two months ago, it goes without saying that maybe Austin isn’t really Silicon Hills and that we simply don’t have state income tax, especially considering that IBM got rid of half of its income. Office space in Austin and Amazon are facing major layoffs.
But then on Friday, January 6th, Apple went crazy.
Capstone Phase Two AC09 and Capstone Phase Two AC07, as the projects are called, are four-story and five-story buildings, respectively, scheduled for construction at 6900 Parmer Lane. Between the two buildings, Apple is adding 419,441 square feet of office space. The construction of both buildings will begin on September 30 this year and will be completed on March 30, 2025.
MySA has reached out to Apple for comment.
To keep up, Tesla is investing in “basic and complete interior fit-out of its EV plant,” the company said in a statement.
On Monday, January 9, four projects appeared at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the largest of which, called Cell 1, appears to be a 693,093-square-foot facility. It is also the most expensive on the list, with an estimated cost of $368 million.
Other projects listed include Cathode, Cellular Testing Laboratory, and Drive. Construction of Cell 1 will begin on January 23rd and end on February 12th next year. Cell Test Lab starts in exactly one week and ends on September 25, 2023. The cathode starts on the same day and ends on December 18 this year. The Drive Unit will start on February 6 and end on January 15, 2024.
TDLR lists the design firm for each project submitted. Each of Tesla’s four projects lists “Giga Texas” as the developer.
Tesla doesn’t have a public relations department.
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