BJ's moving headquarters to Marlborough from Westborough, pending tax break

Photo | Grant Welker BJ's Wholesale Club headquarters in Westborough. The company announced it's opening four new locations over the next few months.

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By Grant Welker

BJ's Wholesale Club could leave its longtime headquarters on Route 9 in Westborough to move a short drive away in Marlborough if it wins a city tax break.

The Marlborough City Council is scheduled to vote as soon as Monday night on the proposal, which would give the retail chain a 20-year tax break in exchange for moving roughly 800 office workers into a renovated space at The Campus at Marlborough, a site also including headquarters for the medical device firm Hologic.

BJ's would lease nearly 190,000 square feet of office space to undergo renovations and improvements valued at $36 million, according to the city's proposal. That includes renovated office space and a new $8-million parking garage.

BJ's said in a statement Monday it intends to move its headquarters for an improved office space.

"The new office space in Marlborough will feature a modern design and an open floor plan, creating a more collaborative work environment for team members," the company said. "Additionally, the new space will be equipped with the technology infrastructure needed to effectively support hybrid work."

The company would move just over five miles north of its current main office, which it leases from an entity registered to the New York City address of Fortress Investment Group. That entity bought the site in 2019 for $33 million. Town property records list the building at 118,000 square feet.

Under Marlborough's proposed 20-year tax break, the owner of The Campus at Marlborough will pay no additional taxes on site improvements for the first three years, receive at least 90% off for four more years, and tapering amounts until the deal expires. The Campus at Marlborough is owned by the Marlborough Campus Limited Partnership in Boston.

BJ's, which has more than 200 locations along the East Coast, has been a standout regionally for its performance during the coronavirus pandemic, benefiting from consumers' shifts away from dining out and travel towards more stay-at-home needs. The company's 2020 profits totaled $421 million, more than doubling its 2019 number.

Under the tenure of Mayor Arthur Vigeant, Marlborough has been proactive in using business tax breaks to attract new companies to vacant office space. Similar deals have helped attract many of the city's top corporate employers, including TJX Cos., Boston Scientific, Quest Diagnostics and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals.