Taco Bell Says It May Relocate HQ From Irvine : Corporations: Fast-food chain sees a need for a larger facility in the future. Other cities are already courting.

The Taco Bell Mexican fast-food chain announced Thursday that it may relocate its headquarters out of Orange County when the lease on its current offices expires in November, 1996.

“As part of our process of reviewing our upcoming corporate lease in Irvine, Calif., we believe it is prudent to consider the benefits as well as the drawbacks of relocating,” Rudy Pollak, Taco Bell’s vice president of administration and employee services, said in a statement.

Pollak said Irvine city officials have talked to Taco Bell executives about keeping the company’s headquarters here. But he confirmed that Taco Bell has been approached by Dallas, Atlanta, North Carolina and other municipalities in California.

Taco Bell has had its headquarters in Southern California since it was founded 30 years ago.

According to company executives, Taco Bell will need more than the 280,000 square feet it leases in a 12-story building in Koll Center Irvine to accommodate the corporation’s projected growth.

Spokeswoman Janis Smith said the company plans to expand from the 4,200 restaurants it operates nationwide to about 200,000 outlets by the year 2000.

Pollak said the corporation could stay in its current building by making “major alterations” to it, move into an existing building that better suits Taco Bell’s needs or build a facility of its own.

Smith said the company has told its 70,000 employees throughout the country that the corporation may move to another city and will keep them apprised as executives get closer to a decision.

Times correspondent Debora Vrana contributed to this report.