New Balance holds grand opening of 250,000 s/f world headquarters at 100 Guest Street

Boston, MA Global athletic leader New Balance held the grand opening of its 250,000 s/f world headquarters located at 100 Guest St. in the Allston/Brighton neighborhood of the city.

New Balance headquarters, 100 Guest Street - Boston, MA

The design is emblematic of the Massachusetts industrial tradition, specifically taking cues from New Balance’s manufacturing facility in Lawrence. The new building offers a modern atrium with an interactive Visitor Engagement Center that showcases the company’s robust history, culture, athletes and current innovations. A sculpture in the lobby marks the entrance to the Visitor Engagement Center with its tripod base meant to remind visitors of a chicken’s foot, which served as the model for perfect balance to the brands founder William Riley in 1906 and is the origin of the brand’s name. It also illustrates the importance of New Balance’s core values; integrity, teamwork and total customer satisfaction. Other key areas of the building include a green outdoor space that is open to the community called “Athletes Park at Boston Landing,” significant multimedia infrastructure upgrades, feature walls on every floor showcasing athlete images and iconic products and interactive digital screens throughout.

The New Balance Foundation, the charitable arm of New Balance, commemorates the opening of the new headquarters with a milestone $3 million grant to West End House Boys & Girls Club (WEH), located just blocks away. New Balance Foundation has been a longtime supporter of WEH, part of the National Boys & Girls Clubs of America, previously donating more than $1.6 million to programs at the club. In addition to granting funds, New Balance associates regularly volunteer at WEH, leading activities that inspire a lifetime of fitness, healthy eating and overall success, including sports, meal preparation, homework help and more. The grant is an effort to ensure NB’s success is shared with important local community partners.

Further coinciding with the opening of the new world headquarters, the brand has changed its legal name from New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. to New Balance Athletics, Inc. which better reflects the company as it is today and moving forward.

The New Balance Global Headquarters building has been registered with the US Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and is currently under review. The New Balance Global Headquarters Shell and Core are expected to receive at least Silver Certification or above from the LEED council. LEED is a widely accepted rating system for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green homes, buildings and communities.

“The opening of the New Balance global headquarters reflects the evolution of the brand and our continued service within the community”, said Jim Davis, New Balance chairman. “Our commitment to the City of Boston is evident by the company’s long-standing and unwavering support in the Allston/Brighton area as our global headquarters location for more than 35 years.”

“This building exemplifies the company’s long held values and culture as well as its commitment to the local community,” said Rob DeMartini, New Balance president and CEO. “We are pleased to move into our new headquarters, a space where our associates can thrive and the brand can continue to grow and fulfill its promise to push forward and deliver the best in innovative footwear and apparel.”

“The opening of the New Balance global headquarters is the first building completed as part of Boston Landing, a visionary real estate development project in Boston’s Allston-Brighton community,” said Jim Halliday, NB Development Group managing director, the developer of Boston Landing. “Next up for completion in September 2016 is The Boston Bruins Practice Facility at Warrior Ice Arena and the adjoining 10-Story office building, to be followed by the new commuter rail station. When fully completed, this transformative project will include a state-of-the-art track & field/multi-sport event center, hotel, residential apartment complex, two additional office buildings and retail and restaurant offerings lining Guest Street.”

New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance is the only major company to make or assemble more than 4 million pairs of athletic footwear per year in the USA, which represents a limited portion of our US sales. Where the domestic value is at least 70%, we label our shoes Made in the USA. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 5,000 associates around the globe, and in 2014 reported worldwide sales of $3.3 billion.

NB Development Group (NBDG) is a commercial real estate company based in Boston, MA. The group’s professionals bring Boston-based experience in the fields of development, permitting, construction management, asset management, leasing and marketing. NBDG is currently managing the development of Boston Landing, a mixed-use project located along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Brighton, MA. Through expert entitlement and permitting strategies, Boston Landing is transforming a vacant industrial area into a vibrant, transit-oriented district. Boston Landing encompasses over 15 acres of land being transformed into uses that will include office, retail, hotel, sports, residential, commuter rail and accessible open space with a total build-out of over 2.5 million s/f.