L’Oréal USA to Open West Coast Headquarters

L’Oréal USA’s new headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. Image courtesy of L’Oréal USA

New York-based L’Oréal USA will soon open a second company headquarters. The global beauty corporation will establish a West Coast home base at 888 N. Douglas, Hackman Capital Partners’ 550,000-square-foot creative office campus in El Segundo, Calif., in the Los Angeles area.

L’Oréal leased 68,700 square feet of office space at 888 N. Douglas in the fourth quarter of 2020—and the company’s access to outdoor workspace gives it a total of 100,000 square feet for its employees. The modern office destination is the result of the transformation of a former aerospace manufacturing site into a 25-acre, state-of-the-art campus that will ultimately feature multiple two-story buildings in a desirable area of the Los Angeles market.

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“Tenants like El Segundo because of its favorable business environments—no gross receipts tax—high-quality product, access to the 405 and 105 freeways, adjacency to LAX, strong amenity base and small-town feel,” Bill Bloodgood, executive managing director with Newmark, told Commercial Property Executive. Newmark is handling leasing for 888 N. Douglas.

L’Oréal’s new headquarters in El Segundo will allow the company to consolidate teams from three California-based brands that are currently housed in three different locations under a single roof. The new space will also house the company’s first West Coast-based Professional Products Academy. Furthermore, the new headquarters will be perfectly suited to accommodate L’Oréal’s newly instituted permanent hybrid work model, which allows eligible employees to spend 40 percent of their time working remotely.

Hackman Capital Partners placed a focus on the health and wellness of the office user when re-envisioning 888 N. Douglas and tapped Blitz to spearhead the interior architecture design. As a result, L’Oréal employees will benefit from such amenities as a flood of natural light from the 45-foot ceilings, dedicated networking and collaboration spaces, an indoor-outdoor work concept with expansive outdoor patios and a wellness and exercise studio. Additionally, L’Oréal’s new space will feature a company store offering products across the company’s portfolio of brands.

Sun Shines on El Segundo

El Segundo was well known as a growth market before the pandemic. The momentum appears to be ongoing with other notable leasing activity of late, including Beyond Meat’s commitment to 281,100 square feet at 888 N. Douglas.

“In addition to L’Oréal and Beyond Meat, Fisker, Rivian and Belkin have all leased significant blocks of space recently,” Bloodgood told CPE. “Several other large tenants from outside the market are currently contemplating relocating into El Segundo. High-quality, low-rise property has seen strong demand in the market.”

Compared to its Class A counterparts in neighboring West Los Angeles, El Segundo’s average asking rent of $4.24 per-square-foot is far less than the $6.49 per-square-foot seen in Silicon Beach’s Playa Vista or the $6.17 per square foot in West Hollywood, according to Newmark’s first quarter 2021 report.

“El Segundo offers a great mix of institutional quality product, large creative campuses and smaller creative buildings,” Bloodgood said. “It will continue to be one of the most active markets in Los Angeles.”

L’Oréal expects to open its second headquarters at 888 N. Douglas in early 2022.