Farmers Insurance Moving to Warner Center [Daily News, Los Angeles]

June 05--Farmers Insurance Group, a fixture in Los Angeles for 85 years, is moving to the burbs.

The company is relocating its corporate headquarters from its Wilshire Boulevard complex to its leased Woodland Hills high-rise on Owensmouth Avenue, a Farmers spokeswoman said Tuesday.

It's part of an plan to consolidate more operations in one location and will be implemented over the next five years.

"We are very excited about moving to a new home -- without leaving our home city. In addition, Farmers remains committed to building Farmers Field, the proposed sports stadium near the L.A. Convention Center and L.A. Live," said spokeswoman Erin Freeman.

"The new Woodland Hills location for the Farmers home office will give us the best of both worlds. (It's) a modern, state-of-the-art facility that's conveniently located for our employees, and also keeps us headquartered in the city of Los Angeles."

The consolidation plan began taking shape in 2009 when Farmers bought 21st Century Insurance for $1.9 billion. The company spent the next several years renovating 217,000 square feet and now occupies eight of the 11 stories of the tower at 6303 Owensmouth Ave., that now bears the Farmers name.

The company moved about 1,400 jobs from its Simi Valley office, and the headquarters relocation will add another 1,400, Freeman said.

"It's wonderful news for the Valley," said Kenn Phillips, vice president of the Valley Economic Alliance.

"In addition to the new Farmers employees that will be coming to the west San Fernando Valley, all of the other businesses in the area will greatly benefit from all of the new consumer spending."

Last week Farmers extended its Warner Center lease through 2027. Terms were not disclosed.

Farmers officials hinted at a possible move like this when the first 800 employees relocated from Simi Valley last summer.

Freeman said that the move to the Valley was the company's best alternative.

"As we studied options for the Wilshire home office, a 75-year-old building, we concluded we faced significant challenges. The building is in need of both a seismic retrofit and numerous significant renovations. Clearly these renovations would be very costly and disruptive to Farmers employees," Freeman said.

The Valley location also provided easy freeway access to Farmers' offices in Agoura Hills and Westlake Village.

The Farmers headquarters, a three-building campus in the 4600 block of Wilshire Boulevard, will be sold, Freeman said.

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