BOSTON — Shaving products company P&G Gillette has unveiled plans to purchase 232 A Street in South Boston as the future home of its nearly $1 billion Grooming Headquarters and Technical Innovation Center. The company is also expanding its Andover, Mass., manufacturing facility and redeveloping its 31-acre South Boston campus.
The new headquarters announcement marks the single-largest investment made by Gillette in Boston, according to the company. The site is currently owned by Breakthrough Properties, a joint venture between Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital. It is permitted for a 324,315-square-foot research-and-development facility with ground-floor retail space. Jonathan Varholak of CBRE led the brokerage team that facilitated the land sale.
Gillette says the purchase of the site unlocks multiple project benefits agreed to when the site was permitted by Breakthrough Properties in 2024. Once complete, the project will contribute 1.5 acres of publicly accessible open space along the Fort Point Channel, including new sidewalks, bike lanes, a waterfront park and improvements to the South Boston Harborwalk. The parcel also includes monetary allocations for public art and shuttle services.
“This new development will keep hundreds of high-tech research-and-development jobs in the city and serves as a testament to the strength of our economy as a global hub for innovation and technology,” says Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Gillette’s plan to move to a new headquarters and Technical Innovation Center was initially announced in 2023, after the company conducted a comprehensive Massachusetts site assessment to determine how it could best leverage its existing locations in the Commonwealth to meet future operational needs.
As part of this phased transition, blade and razor manufacturing will move from South Boston to Andover, a northern suburb, beginning this year. The expanded Andover location includes a new 200,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility designed to support blade and razor production, packaging operations, shave prep manufacturing and direct-to-consumer fulfillment. Gillette broke ground on the Andover project in April 2025.
In tandem, Gillette is moving forward with a master plan to reimagine its 31-acre campus in South Boston. Plans call for a mixed-use district that could include a 6.5-acre waterfront park, 1,800 mixed-income residential units, 3.5 million square feet of office and research space to replace 1.5 million square feet of current industrial and commercial space, 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 250,000 square feet of hotel space.
All told, the company’s “operational transformation” in Massachusetts will translate to an approximately $1.5 billion investment in the Commonwealth.
Founded more than 125 years ago in Boston, Gillette offers a variety of products, including razors, shave gels, skin care, aftershaves, antiperspirants, deodorants and body wash. It is part of the portfolio of brands under Procter & Gamble (P&G).
— Kristin Harlow