iPod's success means company must find room for 3,500 new employees

Apple is planning to build a second campus near its current corporate headquarters in Cupertino in Silicon Valley, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told city counsel members on Tuesday.

The new campus will house 3,000 to 3,500 employees, and take up 50 acres, to accommodate a rapidly growing workforce.

Apple's business has more than tripled in the past five to six years, Jobs said, forcing the company to find office space in addition to its current Cupertino campus.

The maker of the iPod digital media players has been based in Cupertino since opening its first office 29 years ago.

"We have rented every scrap of building that we could find in Cupertino, but they just keep getting further away from the campus. The whole situation is inefficient and frustrating to people," said Jobs.

Apple was originally looking to relocate to a different city. "There aren't a lot of apricot orchards left in Cupertino," Jobs joked, in a reference to the main economic activity in Silicon Valley 30 years ago.

Land also is cheaper in other areas, but the company eventually decided against moving away and found 50 acres about a mile away from its current campus.

Apple has purchased the land, Jobs said, but has yet to start designing, planning and filing for permits. Construction is scheduled to be completed in three to four years.

Jobs said that he was excited about the expansion. "Since we're your largest tax payer, I thought you might be happy too," he told counsel members.

A video stream with Jobs's 'Oral Communication' is available on the City of Cupertino website.