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Architectural drawings reveal Apple's $1.7M Berkeley, Calif., store

Apple will spend $1.7 million to renovate a building for its new store in Northern California with 4,455 square feet of retail space, plans associated with the store have shown.

The 15 pounds worth of plans for the store on Fourth Street in Berkeley, Calif., were discovered by Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore.com. Based on the documentation, the store could open in less than a year, by Fall 2011.

Apple plans to occupy the property at 1823 Fourth St., which was previously used by an animal adoption agency to display animals. Apple's plans call for it to retain the general appearance of the current structure, with 15-foot tall glass windows on the building's front.

Apple plans to expand the ground floor for retail, as well as add a partial second level at the rear of the property for back-of-house operations. Apple will also add an elevator, two stairways, bathrooms, and upgraded electrical and heating-air conditioning systems.

In the retail floor, the Berkeley store will sport the standard tables for products and training, as well as a 17-seat Genius Bar. The architect for the $1.7 million project is listed as MBH Architects of Alameda, Calif.

The plans, filed in mid-November, give a glimpse at one of Apple's upcoming stores planned to open in 2011. In October, the Mac maker revealed that it plans to dramatically expand its retail operations in its 2011 fiscal year.

Apple plans to open between 40 and 50 new locations worldwide in the next year, half of which will be located outside of the U.S. Currently, Apple operates 317 stores, 84 of which are overseas.

In addition to building new stores in the coming year, Apple also has plans for a wave of replacements for some of the company's existing, aging stores in the U.S.

Berkeley 2

For more on the upcoming Berkeley store, see the full story at ifoAppleStore.com.