Mazda will move its North American base to a new site within Irvine
After nearly 30 years in Irvine, Mazda will put its North American headquarters on the move next year — for about a mile.
The automaker plans to relocate the offices in February 2017 to 200 Spectrum Center Drive in Irvine. Under a 10-year lease announced Monday, the company plans to occupy 102,000 square feet on five floors of the new 21-story building and use half the lobby for vehicle displays. Mazda said it will have exclusive naming rights on the top of the 426,000-square-foot glass building, which the company described as Orange County’s tallest.
The facility, owned by the Irvine Co., is near the current headquarters, a five-story building at 7755 Irvine Center Drive that Mazda North American Operations has occupied since October 1987.
The relocation will involve about 450 employees, Mazda said.
“It is one thing to build outstanding vehicles, but the people who work for Mazda must also feel that their workspace is as good as the cars we build,” Masahiro Moro, president and chief executive of Mazda North America, said in a statement. “Continued improvement of the work environment will lead to a better experience for our customers, and that is our ultimate goal.”
Before moving to its current building in Irvine, Mazda established its North American headquarters in 1970 in Compton.
On Thursday, the Irvine Co. announced lease agreements with two other businesses at 200 Spectrum Center Drive. WeWork, a shared-workspace company, is leasing 44,000 square feet, and Curse Inc., an online game company, leased 22,000 square feet.
