WWE leaving old HQ for new one in downtown Stamford

WWE is selling its longtime Titan Towers global headquarters at 1241 E. Main St. in Stamford but staying in the city, signing a 16Â½-year lease for the 415,000-square-foot, three-building complex, once home to UBS, at 677 Washington Blvd.

WWE headquarters. Photo by Matthew Brown. Hearst Connecticut Media

The company will also vacate its leased spaces at 1266 E. Main St., thus bringing its operations, production studios and corporate offices together at one site. WWE anticipates moving to the new headquarters in early 2021.

The firm”™s initial lease will begin no earlier than July 1, with five five-year renewal options thereafter. The initial term includes a free rent period of 18 months, after which the rent is $19,100,809 per year, payable on a monthly basis. The rent will increase to $20,927,392 per year on the sixth anniversary of the rent commencement date, and $22,753,955 per year on the 11th anniversary.

WWE is required to give written notice to landlord Stamford Washington Office LLC not later than 15 months prior to the end of the then-current initial term or renewal term to extend the lease.

Stamford Washington Office will construct base building improvements, to be completed by July 1, after which WWE will build its own interior improvements. The landlord is providing an allowance of up to $40,337,716 to be applied to the cost of those improvements.

WWE said the move was necessary because “we have outgrown our existing Stamford facilities, which would require significant investments in building infrastructure if we remained.

“The new headquarters will provide the company with work space suited to its growing and evolving workforce,” it continued. “The site in Stamford’s central business district provides greater access from various means of transportation (including Metro-North and Amtrak Acela service), floor plans which are well-suited to producing video content and greater flexibility in workplace design.”

The move “provides critical support of the company’s long-term growth strategy,” it added, “which includes increasing our ability to recruit and retain world-class talent as well as to effectively create compelling content.”

WWE has been in Titan Towers since 1985. Its new home was completed in 1998 to serve as the North American headquarters of UBS. That bank relocated across the street in 2016. AVG Partners acquired the property for $33 million in 2017.

George Comfort & Sons joined AVG in the property”™s ownership in early 2018, taking on operating and leasing responsibilities, as well as developing and executing the plan to reposition and re-lease the buildings. Before WWE”™s signing, leases were recently completed with KPMG and Perkins Eastman. Additional plans for completing the repositioning will be announced at a later date.

677 Washington Blvd. is a Class A complex located on over 12 acres. It includes a 13-story office tower, seven-story pavilion, and three-story retail and ancillary building.