Xerox’ headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut
The OEM’s headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut has been “put up for lease” by its landlord.
The Hour reported on the move by Building and Land Technology, which has “put up for lease the Norwalk building housing Xerox headquarters […] for the first time since Xerox’s arrival in late 2007”, and the OEM has remained “tight-lipped about its plans going forward” despite its lease in the building expiring “later this year”. A marketing brochure for the building also “leaves conspicuously absent” the Xerox name “despite the company’s universal renown as a Fortune 500 company”.
Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp replied to The Hour’s questions in an email, but “did not provide insight into the company’s current headquarters plans going forward”, stating that “our headquarters decision-making process is still ongoing. A final decision has not been made”. The building Xerox uses, built in 2001, has more than 250,000 square feet of space, and the OEM moved its headquarters to Connecticut in 1969 from Rochester, New York.
BLT’s Executive Vice President Leslie Whatley commented that “the existing leases expire in 2017 and therefore BLT intends to market the property to prospective tenants. Given its great location and first-class amenities, we expect tremendous interest”. The Hour stated that “any loss of Xerox would represent only a temporary economic blow for Norwalk given the proven appeal of The Towers complex to corporations”, though would be a “more punishing psychological hit” for the state.
This is said to be because Connecticut is “fresh off major commitments for renewed investment” by a range of other companies. The OEM has begun the process of splitting into two separate companies – Xerox Corporation, a document technology company, and Conduent, a business process outsourcing company – with the split expected to be completed by the end of the year.