Nestlé USA will relocate U.S. headquarters to Arlington County

Published February 1, 2017 by Paula C. Squires

Nestlé USA Inc. will relocate its U.S. headquarters from Glendale, Calif., to an office tower in Rosslyn in Arlington County. In announcing the relocation Wednesday afternoon with Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Monday Properties said the food and nutrition giant will be the anchor tenant in what has been an empty building, with Nestlé planning to invest $39.8 million and create 748 new jobs in its new headquarters. 

“Adding a global brand like Nestlé USA to Virginia’s corporate roster is a huge win for our commonwealth,” said Gov. McAuliffe, speaking at the announcement. “… As we continue to work to diversify our economy, I am particularly proud that this great company will locate in a property that has sat empty as the area and our entire state grappled with defense cuts and sequestration.’’

According to Monday Properties, which built the 35-story building, Nestlé will initially lease 40 percent of the building, or 206,000 square feet, with the ability to expand to more than 250,000 square feet of space. Monday finished the 537,000-square-foot building in late 2013 and has been working since to fill the space, holding out for a major tenant rather than break up the space into smaller blocks for smaller tenants.

“Monday Properties is proud to welcome Nestlé, one of the world’s finest companies, to our landmark property, 1812 North Moore Street, in the heart of Rosslyn,” Anthony Westreich, CEO of Monday Properties, said in a statement.”…As a natural continuation of Washington, D.C.'s office market, Rosslyn is attracting businesses and corporations of all sizes — a trend that will continue going forward.”

Nestlé USA is a subsidiary of Nestlé S.A., a leading global nutrition, health and wellness company based in Switzerland. In the U.S., the company has eight main businesses: Nestlé USA, Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., Nestlé Waters North America, Nestlé Nutrition, Nestlé Professional, Nespresso, Nestlé Skin Health and Nestlé Health Science. Together, the companies operate in more than 120 locations in 47 states and employ more than 51,000 people. In 2015, U.S. Nestlé product sales topped $26 billion, making it the largest Nestlé market in the world.

The Rosslyn lease culminates what was an extensive and wide-ranging relocation search effort by Nestlé. “Nestlé USA carefully considered a number of locations and Arlington hits all the marks,” Paul Grimwood, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “The area offers appealing benefits for our current employees, as well as a great talent pool for the future. This location allows us to be closer to our business operations, our customers and other important stakeholders.” 

For Monday Properties, the magnitude of securing one of the most widely recognized corporate brands in the world reinforced the firm’s initial strategy of holding firm while carrying the building for more than three years. While it might have been tempting to pivot to smaller leases when times were tough, “It would have ruined our competitive advantage,” Tim Helmig, Monday’s president and COO, told Virginia Business.
“Good things come to those who wait.  The wait was painful, but it worked out for us in the end.”

According to Helmig, Nestlé officials saw the building in September and looked at other options in the greater Washington region. For a major real estate deal, things came together fairly quickly, he said.
Soaring 390 feet, Monday's LEED platinum-certified building is metro Washington’s tallest, and it offers panoramic views of D.C. and the National Mall.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Arlington County to secure the project for Virginia. Gov. McAuliffe approved a $6 million grant from the Commonwealth Opportunity Fund to assist the county with the project.

The Governor, in consultation with the General Assembly's Major Employment and Investment Commission, said he also approved $4 million in funds from the Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant (VEDIG). VEDIG was established as a self-funded program of performance-based incentives that the Commonwealth awards to exceptional economic development projects with large numbers of employees and high wages relative to average wages for that particular area. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

Lou Christopher and R. Todd Doney of CBRE represented Nestlé in the transaction while the landlord team was represented by Helmig, Freeman and John Wharton at Monday Properties and Evan Behr and Doug Mueller at JLL.