Boom! Apple grabs three Cupertino buildings in mega office deal

CUPERTINO — Apple has bought several Cupertino office buildings in a mega-deal that solidifies the tech titan’s presence in Silicon Valley, property records filed on Friday show.

The iPhone maker paid $450 million to purchase five office buildings that it had been leasing in Cupertino, according to documents filed on Sept. 24 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

The price that Apple paid ranks the transaction as one of the largest property purchases, by value, so far in 2021 in the South Bay.

The Cupertino buildings that Apple bought are at all near the interchange of Interstate 280 and North De Anza Boulevard. The addresses are 10500 N. De Anza Blvd., 20400 Mariana Ave.; and 20605, 20665 and 20705 Valley Green Drive.

Apple bought the buildings through a trio of transactions with varying prices, the county records show:

— 10500 N. De Anza Blvd., $206 million. The building totals 211,000 square feet.

— 20605, 20665 and 20700 Valley Green Drive, $138.6 million. Together, the three buildings total 142,000 square feet.

— 20400 Mariani Ave., $105.4 million. The building totals 105,000 square feet.

Cupertino-based Apple paid cash for the buildings, the county documents show.

The sellers in the deals were affiliates controlled by legendary developer Carl Berg, according to the public records.

The transactions suggest that Apple seeks to ensure it can own as many office buildings as feasible in its hometown of Cupertino.

Among the other major property purchases during 2021 in Santa Clara County:

— In March, Brookfield Properties paid $630 million for two big office buildings in Mountain View that have been leased to Facebook, a building that includes a 10-screen movie complex and a parking structure.

— In July, KKR paid $535 million for a north San Jose complex of three buildings and a parking structure.

Apple also was involved, this time as a tenant, in a huge office lease. Apple in May leased 701,000 square feet in Sunnyvale’s Pathline Park tech campus, enough office space for 3,000 workers.