John Boyd, vice president with Boyd

New York City may be a corporate epicenter of the U.S., but it comes at a cost: the city is the most expensive place to locate a corporate headquarters office, according to a study from Boyd, a group specializing in corporate site selection. The average annual cost to operate a corporate office in New York City is $30.7 million, according to the study, with San Francisco taking the second place slot, with an annual cost of $29.3 million. Cities in the greater New York area, such as Stamford and Newark, clocked in at third and fifth places, respectively, with annual costs of $29 million and $27.9 million. The labor cost associated with each market was the leading factor influencing the overall price of corporate operations, according to the report, along with real estate-related costs. John Boyd, vice president with the firm, said that this information could lead to corporations’ exodus from high-cost regions. “The corporate headquarters arena is the next frontier of corporate cost cutting,” Boyd said, adding that many companies have already taken steps to move other facilities, such as warehouses and customer support centers. “The aim now is to restructure the headquarters office. It’s because of all these new enormous cost pressures.” [more]