Is Apple coming to Vancouver to set up a corporate office—or not?

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      The world's most valuable publicly traded company has never had a corporate presence in Vancouver.

      But this week, many people thought that was about to change when a website declared that Apple has leased 60,000 square feet of office space in a building at 400 West Georgia.

      News of Apple arriving in Vancouver was triggered by a third-quarter NAI Commercial office-leasing report.

      Westbank Corp. is developing the 367,000-square-foot building, which is comprised of various glass cubes jutting outward.

      It's scheduled to be completed in 2020. No doubt, Westbank would love to bag a tenant with a market value of more than US$1 trillion.

      Tech companies like open floorplates, so who knows if this rendering was created with Apple in mind?
      Westbank Corp.

      The OSO and Merrick Architecture–designed Westbank project will sit between another one of its buildings, Telus Garden, and Library Square. The latter edifice—home to the Vancouver Public Library central branch—was designed famed Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.

      The iphoneincanada.ca website even included screen shot from the real-estate report of "significant transactions", which mentioned the deal that supposedly involving Apple.

      This excerpt listed the deal with Apple, but it's no longer in the report.
      iPhone in Canada

      But a curious thing happened when the Straight tried to verify the report.

      That section mentioning Apple's transaction no longer appears in the online NAI Commercial document.

      The Straight reached out to the real-estate brokerage seeking an explanation.

      As of this writing, there's been no response.

      Our best guess? Apple will be coming to Vancouver, but this won't be formally announced until all the important politicians and Apple executives (Tim Cook?) can synchronize their schedules.

      Come to think of it—it might be best for Apple to delay any public statements until after the U.S. midterm elections, given President Donald Trump's oft-stated hostility to U.S. corporations exporting jobs to foreign countries. These elections take place on Tuesday (November 6).

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