EXCLUSIVE: More Details On WWE’s New Corporate HQ In Stamford – Building Will Feature Area For Live Studio Audience

WWE is selling their Headquarters of Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut and moving into a new facility nearby.

WWE officially announced the move back in March of this year. You can see WWE’s original announcement regarding the move to their new Corporate Headquarters below.

STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced that the company will move its global headquarters to a new office complex at 677 Washington Boulevard in Stamford, Connecticut. This move will allow the company to bring together its operations, including its production studios and corporate offices at its new site.

“One of the most important elements necessary to execute WWE’s long-term growth strategy is world-class talent collaborating seamlessly to create compelling content. Our workplace initiative will be the foundation to meet these objectives and underpins our ability to deliver long-term value,” said George Barrios, WWE Co-President.

The new headquarters will provide the company with work space suited to its growing and evolving workforce. The site in Stamford’s central business district provides greater access from various means of transportation, floor plans which are well-suited to producing video content and greater flexibility in workplace design. The Company anticipates that it will move to the new headquarters in early 2021.

WWE will lease the space for an initial term of approximately 16.5 years commencing no earlier than July 1, 2019, with five five-year renewal options thereafter. The lease will be accounted for as a finance lease, with the creation of a lease obligation (equal to the present value of future lease payments, which would result in the recognition of interest expense over time) and a right-of-use lease asset (equal to the lease obligation less tenant incentives, which is depreciated on a straight-line basis through depreciation expense). Accordingly, the accounting for the lease agreement is not expected to have a material impact on Adjusted OIBDA. Depreciation expense associated with the right-of-use asset will be reflected in operating income. The Company’s capital expenditure guidance reflects this initiative. That guidance estimated capital expenditures of approximately $70 million to $90 million for 2019 with continued spending in 2020 above the historic range of approximately 4% to 7% of revenue. Additionally, the company expects to sell its owned and operated corporate facility at 1241 East Main Street, exit its leased spaces at 1266 East Main Street, and will evaluate options for its production studio facilities at 88 and 120 Hamilton Avenue based on strategic, operating and financial considerations.

Additional information is available on the Company’s website, corporate.wwe.com/investors.

In an update after speaking to a source within WWE, we have some new details pertaining to WWE’s new Corporate Headquarters, and the details of their lease. WWE is leasing the new building for 15 years, with options of renewal after every 5 years. Also, there is an interesting part of their new lease agreement which allows for a live studio audiences and retail and fan exhibition/experience areas within the premises.

The lease states:

“Subject to the terms hereof, Tenant may use and occupy the Premises for any use expressly permitted by applicable Requirements, including, without limitation, general office use, and to the extent so permitted by applicable Requirements, television and digital production, live studio audiences, and retail and fan exhibition and experience areas all within the Pavilion Premises, as well as limited television and digital production in the Tower Premises provided same is reasonably compatible with the office uses and occupancies in the Tower Building (the “Intended Uses”), and for no other purpose without the prior written consent of Landlord, which consent shall be determined by Landlord within its reasonable discretion.”

In addition, after speaking to Brad Shepard he was able to confirm that the new building can hold between 350 and 400 seated occupants, depending upon how the area is set up. The area will be used for practicing entrances, promos, color commentary training and interview training as the main WWE Performance Center in Orlando will now be used more for fitness and wrestling training/practice. It was also added that the facility will on occasion host non-televised, non-WWE Network matches may also be held and open for viewing to a limited number of fans. The purpose of these matches would purely be for “testing the waters for trainee’s and nothing else.”

WWE’s main Performance Center in Orlando will continue to remain the same, with the exception of the new addition to the facility which we previously reported on, which will better organize and declutter the PC. The building will have all of its original furnishings, such as stage, ramp, commentator training studio and promo room. However, the PC in Orlando will now become secondary to the new building in Stamford, in the specific aspects aforementioned. The new building will also be used as a storage area for old “original” Performance Center equipment that has piled up over the years.

My source also spoke of a rather standard “Right of First Offer Clause”, which means that if the landlord decides to sell the property, WWE has the first rights and option to buy the land and building on the property before anyone else has the chance.

We will keep you updated if we hear anything else regarding WWE’s sale of Titan Towers and their move to their new Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut or the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

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(Please credit Cassidy Haynes and Bodyslam.net when using this news.)