[NewsPoster]

A major property company in the San Francisco Bay Area has used its quarterly earnings call to reveal that major car makers are on the hunt for real estate in the Bay area for their autonomous car projects. Hudson Pacific Properties' CEO Victor Coleman also said that not only are traditional automakers looking to get a foothold near Silicon Valley to develop their respective projects, but Apple is also looking to acquire up to 800,000-square-feet of real estate for its secretive "Project Titan" electric car project as well. Joining Apple in the hunt for real estate for a similar purpose is Google, hoping to pick up around 400,000 square feet.


"We're seeing the Toyotas of the world, the Teslas of the world, BMWs, Mercedes. Ford now is out in the marketplace looking for space," Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman told the earning's call. "I haven't even mentioned the 400,000 square feet that Google's looking to take down and the 800,000 square feet that Apple's looking to take down for their autonomous cars as well."

Also of interest in the Wall Street Journal report is that Apple's "Project Titan" team may have crested over 600 employees working full time on the project. After some hiccups early this year, "Project Titan" seems to be gaining renewed momentum with Apple said to be picking up properties in Silicon Valley and in different parts of the world as it works towards a rumored 2020 launch for its electric car. Whether or not it features autonomous technology, as suggested by Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman, has not been confirmed.

[coffeetime]

Whatever that is, it better knock the socks off Tesla.

[Inkling]

Is this true? Planning to build an auto factory in the hyper-expensive Bay area must rank alongside "getting involved in a land war in Asia." Apple executives should go on the road and look at how cars are bulit today. Automating the heck out of that factory won't help. The Kia factory near me in LaGrange, Georgia is highly automated and benefits from a well-establish system of auto-parts subcontractors along I-85 between Atlanta and Montgomery. The same is true of the Hyundai factory in Montgomery. You won't find that in Northern California. Tim Cook could even locate that plant in Auburn, where he went to college. The population is well-educated, the city consistently ranks as one of America's best small towns, and the cost of living beats the socks off the Bay area. Relevant links: http://www.forbes.com/places/al/auburn/ http://www.kmmgusa.com and http://www.hmmausa.com