Waterfront Corporate Center in Hoboken — Courtesy: SJP Properties
By Joshua Burd
The maker of Terra vegetable chips, Celestial Seasonings tea and other foods is moving to Hoboken, where it will lease space at SJP Properties’ Waterfront Corporate Center.
The company, Hain Celestial Group, announced Thursday that the Mile Square City will be home to its new headquarters and innovation hub. The firm is moving from Long Island to its new space at 221 River St., also known as Waterfront Corporate Center III, following what it described as a thorough vetting process.
The size of the lease was not immediately available, although Hain Celestial said it will occupy the building’s 12th floor. Savills’ Gary Stein and Gregg Najarian brokered the lease on behalf of Hain Celestial, with Jason L. Sobel of Sills Cummis & Gross PC representing the company as counsel.
“Hain’s hub-and-spoke work model enables broader team collaboration and greater connectivity as a global enterprise,” Hain Celestial Group CEO Wendy Davidson said. “It also provides us the ability to recruit the very best talent, regardless of where they are located.”
The publicly traded firm makes what it describes as better-for-you products that inspire healthier living, including Garden Veggie Snacks, Terra chips, Garden of Eatin’ snacks, Earth’s Best and Ella’s Kitchen baby and toddler foods and Celestial Seasonings teas, among others, according to a news release. It markets and sells its products in more than 75 countries.
In announcing the move, Hain said Hoboken will serve as a hub where teams from its other offices and manufacturing locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere will collaborate. A new Hain’s Innovation Experience Center will provide a space for team members, customers and consumers to immerse themselves in the company’s products, explore consumer insights and create innovative opportunities for the future, while it will continue to leverage research and development labs at its plants for more comprehensive product development and scale.
Davidson added that Hain plans to open the office this fall, adding that the move “is among the early actions we are taking to support our multiyear transformation strategy,” which it will unveil at a Sept. 13 investor day. Its new home will be a short walk from Hoboken Terminal, which provides rail, bus and ferry service, and a short drive from both the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and the New Jersey Turnpike.
The firm will also occupy a building that has a Gold rating on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design scale, while it overlooks the Hudson River and is steps from Hoboken’s acclaimed downtown. SJP Properties owns the three-building, 1.5 million-square-foot office and retail complex, which it built over more than a decade.
