Steps away from L’Oréal USA’s Hudson Yards offices in New York — and, more specifically, right where Neiman Marcus’ former store at the Hudson Yards mall once was — sits a shiny new L’Oréal mega-hub just shy of 46,000 square feet.
It’s not an office, but rather the new space at 20 Hudson Yards is a three-in-one content creation center complete with 12 studios; a L’Oréal Academy for hairstylist education, and a Technical Center where consumers can visit by invitation to try new and upcoming launches.
The project, which cost L’Oréal $25 million to $30 million to build, coincides with a two-and-a-half-year renovation of the company’s offices next door at 10 Hudson Yards. Combined, the projects are L’Oréal’s biggest U.S. real estate undertakings since 2022, when the beauty giant unveiled a 100,000-plus-square-foot headquarters on the West Coast, as well as a 250,000-square-foot Research and Innovation Center in Clark, N.J.
The lobby at 20 Hudson Yards.
Connie Zhou Courtesy of Gensler
“When we measure the business of a salon that has regular education and one that does not, the difference is significant — it can be up to 10 to 15 points,” said Leslie Marino, president of L’Oréal’s Professional Products division. “That’s why we’re so focused on making sure that every hairdresser in every state gets ongoing education — it’s critical to their success.”
The new L’Oréal Academy will host hairstylist classes led by professionals from across L’Oréal’s hair care portfolio, which includes Matrix, Redken, Kérastase and Color Wow. The academy builds on the premise of the Redken Exchange, which opened its first doors offering hairstylist education in the ’90s.
“Redken is our number-one professional hair care brand, and it also has this legacy of education, but now we have 10 amazing professional hair care brands, all giving education to the industry, so we decided in this space to tell a dual story and keep the Redken Exchange, but also indicate that at L’Oréal Academy, you can learn about any one of our brands,” said Marino, adding that L’Oréal Pro has 750 total educators who teach at salons across the U.S., some of whom will be hosting classes at the Academy.
Classes range from $150 to $5,000 in price, with certifications available in coloring, balayage, finishing and other specialties.
“The biggest thing for us is to accelerate growth. Economic challenges have hit some of our salons hard; some have had to increase prices due to inflation, and we know that the color business has been tougher,” Marino said. “We want to help our salons deliver services that make clients want to stay at the salon — that’s why educational investment is so important.”
From a business perspective, Redken is L’Oréal’s top professional hair care brand in both salons and at retail. Matrix is the group’s top pro hair color brand, while Kérastase ranks behind Redken as number-two overall at retail. Color Wow, which L’Oréal acquired in 2025, is a top performer on TikTok Shop, where L’Oréal may soon roll out other pro hair brands. “We are learning from them how to make that successful,” Marino said.
One of L’Oréal’s nine new content studios at 20 Hudson Yards.
Connie Zhou Courtesy of Gensler
Elsewhere inside 20 Hudson Yards, which is both the address and the name of L’Oréal’s new hub, are its content studios, where brand campaigns, influencer partnerships and other social media content for L’Oréal brands ranging from Maybelline New York to YSL Beauty can be shot and produced under one roof.
Through the new Technical Center, meanwhile, teams at 10 Hudson can easily put upcoming innovations to the test.
“Our facility in New Jersey is for our research and innovation folks, but this site is closer to our operational and global marketers, who now don’t have to go all the way to Jersey to test products,” said David Greenberg, former chief executive officer and now chairman of L’Oréal USA.
Next door, the office renovation at 10 Hudson Yards has expanded the headquarters from 416,987 square feet to 484,045 square feet. First opened in 2016, the office houses roughly 2,500 employees across 34 of L’Oréal’s 37 total portfolio brands.
The coffee bar at 10 Hudson Yards, inspired by Maybelline’s bestselling lipstick shades.
Connie Zhou
“We knew after COVID-19, in having the hybrid, three-days-in-office work schedule that we do, that we needed a different kind of office environment,” said Greenberg, adding that one of the key changes has been the addition of a dedicated floor — technically, 1.5 floors — for people to gather seamlessly.
Inside L’Oréal’s renovated Hudson Yards headquarters.
Connie Zhou
“We wanted there to be a floor that kind of welcomes everybody — particularly external visitors — where if you have a meeting or anything else, everyone can meet here and it just starts the day off differently,” said Greenberg, adding that the floor includes conference rooms named after hero products (for instance, the Great Lash conference room), a learning lab, a broadcast room, a wellness room, a coffee bar and more.
“My ambition was to have L’Oréal USA just be a fantastic place to work and a super successful L’Oréal affiliate that could show everyone in the world what we’re capable of,” said Greenberg, whose appointment as chairman went into effect at the top of the year. “Beauty is a competitive industry, but it’s a great industry, and I’ve loved every minute of it. Leaving this [space] behind for people makes me feel good, because I feel like it’s something that will last.”
