Korn/Ferry Signs $15-Million Lease for New Headquarters

Executive search firm Korn/Ferry International has signed a $15-million agreement to move its headquarters to another building in Century City.

The company will occupy 40,000 square feet at 1900 Avenue of the Stars in an 11-year lease. The space is 10,000 square feet smaller than its current headquarters at 1800 Century Park East and reflects company cutbacks and consolidations, Chief Operating Officer Gary Burnison said.

Korn/Ferry is about half the size it was in 2000 at the height of an economic and hiring boom, Burnison said, and has sublet about 400,000 square feet of office space worldwide that it no longer needs. It now has about 1,400 employees in 40 countries and will move about 150 of them to the new headquarters in September. The company has hired 50 recruiters in the last 12 months.

“We’re growing and making money, particularly here and in North America,” Burnison said. “Companies are hiring again.”

After losing $121 million the last two years, the company has shown a profit the last two quarters. Shares of Korn/Ferry fell 20 cents Monday to $13.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company, founded in 1969 by Lester Korn and Richard Ferry, had its first office in the 1900 Avenue of the Stars high-rise, which was completed that year. The 28-story building is owned by Topa Equities of Los Angeles.