Apple Buys Acre of Land for New Data Center From NC Family For $1.7M

Location, location, location is the mantra for real estate. Donnie and Kathy Fulbright, from Maiden, NC, know that well. Apple just paid them $1.7M to move out of the house they lived in for 34 years.

After the couple rejected two offers, Apple told them to put a price on the single-story house built on less than one acre of land, and they did. That property was purchased for $6,000 when they moved in 34 years ago.

Now, the Fulbrights live in a 4,200 sq. ft. house on a 49-acre property. Not only that, the house includes a Jacuzzi in the master bathroom, as well as a manmade pond stocked with catfish and bass.


Why the big payout from Apple? The Fulbright's former property is next to the location where Apple is building a 500,000 sq. ft. $1B data center. The center is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

David Cappuccio, chief of research at market analytics firm Gartner, said:

“Apple’s growth has been pretty dramatic and they have probably exceeded their capacity. Between iTunes and the video store they are going to have, you’re talking about massive amounts of data and millions of people trying to access that at the same time.”

Although's Apple's plans for the facility have not been made public, it's believed it will be used for the cloud-based iTunes that is expected by many, and perhaps even with Apple TV video streaming, as well.

Below is a short video showing the data center, still under construction, from a view "in the clouds."