Colony Capital Inc. moves corporate headquarters to Boca
By: Dale King
Colony Capital, Inc. has relocated its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Boca Raton, according to a statement issued by the company.
The firm, founded by Tom Barrack, formally relocated both its main quarters and several staff members to Boca Raton as of Jan. 1 so it can be located near Digital Colony, the company’s digital infrastructure investment management business which has been based in Boca Raton for more than a decade.
Colony Capital and Digital Colony located in the building at 750 Park of Commerce Drive, Boca Raton.
The firm went on to say the coronavirus pandemic, which has kept office workers at home for months, is fueling the migration away from high-cost cities as companies look to trim expenses and give employees flexibility on where they can live and work.
Wall Street firms have increasingly been looking south to Florida for office space. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been weighing plans to create a South Florida hub for its asset management arm while electronic market maker Virtu Financial Inc. is preparing to move about 30 employees from New York to Palm Beach Gardens.
High-profile companies, most notably Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Oracle Corp., have also announced plans to leave California. HP is eying Houston and Oracle plans to move to Austin, where it will join the new electric truck manufacturing plant for Tesla. That firm’s co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, also plans to move his home from California to Austin.
The move by Colony to Florida brings the offices of the real estate investment trust to the home turf of its chief executive, Marc Ganzi. The company has recently shifted its focus from hotels and offices to so-called digital real estate, which includes data centers, cell tower lease buyout and fiber network options.
In addition, Colony announced the appointment of select corporate officers to new roles as part of its ongoing digital transformation.
Ganzi and Executive Vice President and CFO, Jacky Wu, are already based out of Boca Raton. In its statement, the company said the transition is consistent with the firm’s strategic realignment to an exclusive focus on digital infrastructure, which is now greater than 50% complete.
The move also supports management’s ongoing focus on streamlining the company’s corporate structure and realizing G&A savings. Select corporate maintains its Los Angeles office to support its investment and corporate operations.
“We are excited to strengthen our presence in Florida and make Boca Raton our official global headquarters,” said Ganzi. “The move reflects our business transformation and centers the business around our core digital infrastructure platform.”
“Making this move improves efficiency, collaboration and cost-competitiveness, while providing an exceptional work environment for our employees. We will continue to have a meaningful presence in Los Angeles, with many key executives and staff based there.”
On Dec. 30, the company completed a series of personnel changes as part of its ongoing digital transformation. The Board of Directors appointed Sonia Kim as chief accounting officer. She has been with Colony since 2008 and, prior to this appointment, served as managing director of financial and accounting.
Neale Redington has been appointed chief financial officer of the company’s non-digital businesses and Brian Lee has been promoted to corporate treasurer.
“I am very pleased that these three accomplished executives have agreed to assume new roles and responsibilities as part of our digital transformation,” said Jacky Wu. “Sonia has been with us for over a decade and the appointment is well earned. Neale’s new role will bring greater focus to the crucial task of managing our legacy businesses and Brian will add treasury oversight to his existing role as head of corporate finance.”
The Company manages a $47 billion portfolio of real assets on behalf of its shareholders and limited partners, including more than $23 billion in digital real estate investments through Digital.
The firm has 350 employees across 20 locations in 12 countries.
