Apple is a larger company now than it's ever been, both in the public consciousness and in sheer number of employees. They are, in fact, so large that they are building a brand-new structure to accommodate the growth spurt. The building, announced on June 7 at a Cupertino City Council meeting, will hold 12,000 employees and host its own power supply. It will look like Xena's chakram, and Jobs joked that it looks "a bit like a spaceship landed."

However, the further announcement that the building will have its own 4,000 capacity auditorium have some wondering whether this means that all future conferences will be held there, rather than in San Francisco's Moscone Center, which has hosted Mac events since 1985. If so, the city could lose as much as $7,284,000 annually from antendee-related spending.

Obviously, it's foolish to second-guess Apple, but there are a couple of factors worth consideration. First, the new facility won't break ground until 2015. Second, there were over 5,200 attendees at this year's WWDC, which is well over the expected capacity of the mothership's auditorium. This argues in favor of WWDC continuing at Moscone, even if specific press events will not. And third, it would seem arrogant to expect a horde of journalists to make the extra 46-mile hike to Cupertino from their hotels in San Francisco. If Moscone does lose the Mac conferences and events, expect a lot of grumbling from the media.

We've got some time before it all shakes out, but what do you think the chances are that Apple is planning on saying goodbye to San Francisco?

Via SFWeekly