Gillette To Invest $1 Billion in New South Boston Headquarters

Gillette has announced a $1 billion investment in a new Boston headquarters.

CBS Boston reported that the shaving gear services company, owned by Procter & Gamble, is constructing an innovation center at 232 A St. The site will host a 324,315-square-foot R&D hub with ground-floor retail and waterfront amenities. 

According to Gillette officials, the plan will add 1.5 acres of publicly accessible open space along the Fort Point Channel, including sidewalks, bike lanes, a waterfront park, Harborwalk upgrades, public art funding, and shuttle services.

"Transforming our grooming business for the future required that we think creatively about every aspect of our operations," P&G Gillette CEO Gary Coombe said in a statement shared with CBS Boston. "After a comprehensive search, we are pleased to have found a location that continues our longstanding history in this community, provides the right structure for our Technical Innovation Center, and supports neighborhood development."  

According to company officials, Gillette is also advancing redevelopment plans for its 31-acre campus in South Boston that could provide more housing, economic development, and open space. The company did not confirm when its new headquarters would be open.

While P&G Gillette contemplated leasing other spaces or staying put on its existing 31-acre campus, the company ultimately decided to construct a new building at 232 A St. on an already-permitted site it sold to Breakthrough Properties, a Tishman Speyer-Bellco Capital joint venture, in 2021.

Breakthrough stated last year it had received approval from the Boston Planning & Development Agency for the approximately 325,000-square-foot lab-and-office building on the property.

In 2023, The Boston Globe reported that P&G Gillette announced it would move manufacturing operations out of its longtime South Boston site to its campus in Andover. At the same time, company officials said they would find a new place in the city neighborhood for its approximately 750 corporate and research workers.