Apple’s new “Spaceship” campus has received approval from the Cupertino planning commission ahead of a city council meeting on October 15.  The new building, which will become home to 14,000 Apple employees, is now another step closer to fruition, and providing there are no hiccups, Apple will be able to make a start on it next year. 

CNET reports that Apple “made one last plea to the community at a public discussion” on Tuesday, and received a recommendation from the Cupertino planning permission at a meeting on Wednesday.  It’s now set up for a city council meeting on October 15, where it will find out whether it has approval to go ahead with construction. 

That won’t be the end of the process entirely, however.  A final meeting to officially certify the vote will be held on November 19, and only after that can Apple start work on Campus 2.  It means the company is unlikely to make any real progress on the site until next year, two years later that it had originally planned. 

Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs first presented Campus 2 to the Cupertino city council on June 7, 2011, in what turned out to be his final public appearance.  The building will span 2.8 million square feet across 176 acres of land, with underground parking, a fitness center, and its own auditorium.  It’s expected to cost around $5 billion. 

Jobs originally planned to start work on Campus 2 in 2012, and have it built by the end of that year.  Now Apple’s move-in date has been pushed back to 2016. 

Source: CNET