One of the biggest companies in the world is about to touch down in Mesa.
Mesa Mayor John Giles said Tuesday that a worldwide Apple Inc. headquarters will be located in Mesa at Signal Butte and Elliott roads near the Eastmark development.
Part of what attracted the computer giant to Mesa was the availability of a 1.3 million square-foot building in the city that was at one point supposed to be used for solar panel construction.
“Apple being a smart company, I think saw a great opportunity,” Giles said. “They acquired the building originally to be used for one of their subcontractors to manufacture glass. When they couldn’t make that work then Apple came back and said, ‘Well this is still a great building, a great location, we’re still committed to Mesa, so we’re going to repurpose it and use it for other purposes.’”
Giles said the building will be the home of Apple Inc.’s worldwide cloud computing operations and will house 150 badged, executive-level Apple employees. In addition to the 150 Apple badged employees, the facility will host 300-500 contract employees.
However, the massive building is probably larger than what Apple Inc. needs at the moment, leaving open the possibility of expansion and additional job creation.
“You’re still talking several hundred employees there at any given time,” Giles said. “But given the size of that building there still is room for additional expansion and I’m hoping that Apple, once they get here and fall in love with Mesa, Arizona, that they’ll want to expand.”
With the new Apple Inc. facility on the horizon, it could mean a major boost to the city’s economy.
“It’s really hard to overstate the importance to the city,” Giles said. “Apple is the most successful company in the history of companies. If you were to drop a dream list of companies you would want to come to your city, every city would start with Apple at the top of their list.
“We’re very, very fortunate to have Apple on its way to Mesa.”
by Eric Smith, EVTribune