From Garden City to the Garden State: Avis Will Move HQ to NJ

PARSIPPANY, NJ-Cendant Corp. recently leased a vacant 386,000-sf office building near its headquarters here amid speculation on what it would do with the space. The company’s takeover of Avis Group Holdings was nearing its closing, but as recently as last November, Avis chairman/CEO Barry Rand had said in an interview that his company had “no plans to move” from the Garden City, NY headquarters it had occupied for almost 35 years. He did hedge, indicating that Avis was in the market for newer and larger headquarters space.

Cendant and Avis officials put an end to the speculation yesterday, shortly after the merger closed, by announcing that Avis would indeed relocate its home base here over the next 12-18 months. The car rental company will keep its WizCom information services division and other tech support functions in Garden City. Of 700 positions on Long Island, at least half will be moved. In the meantime, Avis has been granted an incentives package by the State of New Jersey that will amount to $2 million a year for the next 10 years.

“Avis has a long history on Long Island, says Robert Salerno, Avis’ president, who will stay on as COO of Avis Rent A Car. “But merging our headquarters with Cendant will provide significant cross-marketing and cost-saving opportunities. Right now, we are committed to handling the transition with a great deal of sensitivity.” Altogether, Avis has more than 20,000 employees in its car rental, fleet rental and fleet management operations worldwide.