HQ no longer a fit

Ann Taylor parent setting NJ $ale

The owner of Ann Taylor and Loft is putting a big asset on the block as it struggles to turn a profit, The Post has learned.

AscenaRetail Group, which also operates LaneBryantand Catherines stores, is selling its sprawling, 20-acre headquarters in Mahwah, NJ — the latest in a string of belt-tightening moves.

Industry sources say the proceeds from the sale of the 195,000-square-foot headquarters, which houses two buildings, a fitness center, cafeteria and outdoor patio, could be used to help the company pay down its $1.3 billion in debt.

The decision to sell the office complex “is another step in our efforts to right size our footprint and cost structure to support a stronger, focused, and more profitable business,” a spokesperson for the company said.

Last year, Ascena, which has failed to turn a full year of profit since 2014, shuttered 650 Dressbarn stores and sold a majority stake in its Maurices discount chain for $300 million.

In December, it announced a 1-for-20 reverse stock split to avoid being delisted from the Nasdaq stock market, where its shares now trade for $4.75 a share, up from under $1 a share.

The company would relocate to another area in New Jersey should it sell the complex, the spokesperson added.

Ascena moved into the stateof-the-art building in 2014, where most of its top management and former Dressbarn employees worked.

The Ann Inc. business, which it acquired for $2.2 billion in 2015, continues to operate out of 7 Times Square, where it had been before the acquisition. Ascena renewed the lease there for 300,000 square feet in 2017 and has since been doing extensive renovations there.

It also owns office space in Columbus, Ohio, where its Lane Bryant and Catherines brands are located. But the company is reportedly shopping those brands, sources told The Post.

“The property is easily one of the most modern and well-appointed offices in the entire Northeast,” listing agent Chris Pennington of Binswanger said of the Mahwah office park in a press release.

Ascena — whose Lane Bryant label helped lift model Ashley Graham (right) to national fame — is selling its headquarters in a belttightening move.