Ann Taylor Owner Ascena Selling Mahwah HQ

MAHWAH, NJ –Ascena Retail Group, which owns Ann Taylor, Loft and Lane Bryant, is selling its 20-acre headquarters in Mahwah.

The company recently hired Binswanger, a commercial real estate firm, to conduct tours of the MacArthur Road complex, which features 195,212 square-feet of office space across two buildings.

“The property is easily one of the most modern and well-appointed offices in the entire Northeast,” listing agent Chris Pennington of Binswanger said in a press release. “It is ideally suited as an office headquarters for a company looking to take advantage of the area’s highly educated labor pool and be near Manhattan at a fraction of its cost.”

An Ascena spokesperson told RetailDive that the decision to sell its office complex is a step in the company’s efforts to right-size its footprint and cost structure “to support a stronger, focused, and more profitable business.”

The company plans to explore office locations in New Jersey to relocate its employees, the spokesperson said. Ascena has occupied the state-of-the-art office complex since 2014 and it is where most of its top management and former Dressbarn employees worked.

The New York Post reported that proceeds from the sale of the headquarters, which includes a fitness center, cafeteria and outdoor patio, could be used to help Ascena pay down a $1.3 billion debt. Last year, Ascena closed 650 Dressbarn stores and a majority stake in its Maurices discount chain.

See More: Dressbarn Announces Closures