Apple’s Spaceship Campus Is Roughly $2 Billion Over Budget.

Bloomberg Businessweek today published a lengthy report about Apple’s forthcoming "spaceship" campus, noting that the project is currently about $2 billion over budget and one year behind schedule.

The report said that since 2011 the budget for the campus has increased from less than $3 billion to about $5 billion, according to people close to the project. If their consensus estimate is accurate, the new office space would cost over $1,500 per square foot, three times the cost of many corporate towers in downtown New York. According to the report, Apple has been working to reduce the cost of the project by $1 billion before beginning construction. The report notes:

“The true expense of the campus lies not in green tech, though, as much as the materials—as well as what product designers call “fit and finish.” As with Apple’s products, Jobs wanted no seam, gap, or paintbrush stroke showing; every wall, floor, and even ceiling is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness”.