NEW YORK — Women in hard hats will be swarming over Ann Taylor’s new headquarters for the next few months.
Construction workers and contractors may not be Ann Taylor Stores Corp.’s usual demographic, but the company is targeting them for the $30 million build-out of its corporate headquarters at 7 Times Square.
Rather than awarding the 300,000-square-foot project to a handful of major, and mostly male, contractors, Ann Taylor hired construction manager John Gallin & Son Inc. to ensure that women- and minority-owned firms get a chunk of the business — a move usually reserved for public sector agencies that are required to do so by law.
“It’s very unusual for a corporation to make this a priority,” said Chris Gallin, vice president at Gallin and principal on the project. “But it’s part of their corporate philosophy. Not only are 80 to 90 percent of their employees female, but 100 percent of their customers are. They’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do.”
More than 15 percent of the contracting firms on the job are owned by women and minorities, an astounding number that would have been impossible without some complex structuring from Gallin. Indeed, most government construction projects typically don’t employ such a high percentage of women, they just have to prove they tried to recruit them.
In order to make the massive job palatable for smaller contractors and give them a fair shot at winning bids, Gallin broke the construction into three phases. The work on each phase was then split between two contractors, doubling the number of companies on the project. On one particular phase of the project, more than 40 percent of the contractors are women.
“We are rarely asked to do anything like this,” said Gallin. “But it was tasked as a very high priority from Ann Taylor.”
The interior of the headquarters also pays special attention to women’s needs.
“Kay Krill [president of Ann Taylor Stores Corp.] is very interested in keeping people happy,” said Juliette Lam, senior principal at HOK Inc., which designed the space. “There’s a wonderful coffee bar and cafeteria with lots of different places where people can sit and collaborate. And,” she laughed, “more bathrooms than the average office to accommodate all of the women.”
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“Times Square Tower offers Ann Taylor an excellent platform to continue to grow our business, providing us with the additional space we need to upgrade our creative, store-design and visual merchandising capabilities for Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft and Ann Taylor Factory,” said Ann Taylor’s chairman and chief executive officer, J. Patrick Spainhour.
Ann Taylor will be completely moved into 7 Times Square from its current headquarters at 142 West 57th Street by late May. Its 15-year lease, which closed in August, is rumored to be worth $250 million. Its retail real estate for Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft stores totals more than 3.7 million square feet nationally.