Apple Continues Acquisition Spree, Paying $44M For Sunnyvale Industrial Site

Though Apple has indefinitely delayed formal return-to-office plans, the technology giant appears to still be bullish on commercial real estate.

The Silicon Valley firm is continuing its investments into the new year, paying $44M for an industrial building in Sunnyvale, according to CoStar Group. It’s not yet clear how Apple intends to use the 105K SF space at 123 Uranium Drive, located about 5 miles from the company’s HQ in Cupertino. 

The deal marks a 160% premium over the $17M that investment firm Invesco paid in 2013, according to CoStar records. 

The purchase adds to an investment swing for the iPhone maker that has persisted despite the pandemic’s ongoing impact on U.S. offices. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, last month said it would delay a return to the office “to a date yet to be determined,” according to The New York Times. 

Apple inked one of the largest office leases for the region last year in May when it leased six buildings totaling nearly 700K SF at the new Pathline Park office complex in Sunnyvale, according to the San Francisco Business Times. It isn’t the only Silicon Valley tech firm making CRE moves in Sunnyvale; last month, landlord Tishman Speyer announced Meta, formerly Facebook, signed a 719K SF lease in the city, representing the largest private sector lease in the U.S. in 2021.

Apple will also add nearly 335K SF to its office footprint at two under-construction office developments in Santa Clara. On the acquisition front, Apple shelled out nearly $700M last year for various Cupertino commercial real estate properties, including five office buildings it occupies at its HQ campus. 

The company is the largest real estate owner and occupier in Cupertino, according to CoStar.