Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill are preparing to move their shared Irvine headquarters to a larger campus on Alton Parkway in 2028, bringing the companies to a property formerly occupied by Canon U.S.A. The planned site covers 254,000 square feet, compared with 181,000 square feet at the companies’ current five-story building, according to the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Business Journal.
A large lease in a changing office market
The destination, Alton HQ, is a three-building campus at 15955, 15967 and 15975 Alton Parkway, about a mile from the Irvine Spectrum Center. Canon U.S.A. previously occupied the property, which Canon sold to Irvine Company in 2022 for $120 million, or about $365 per square foot, based on CoStar data cited by the Times and the Business Journal. Irvine Company Office Properties owns the campus.
The lease is being described by the Times and the Business Journal as Orange County’s largest new office lease in five years. It comes as the county’s direct office vacancy rate stood at 10.9% in the second quarter of 2026. The Kidder Mathews report also noted tenant preference for prime locations and a slowdown in new office development, putting the campus move in a market where well-located properties remain a focus.
Space for two restaurant brands
Transportation planning near the campus
The Alton Parkway site is near the Culver Drive intersection, where Irvine’s Transportation Commission considered approval of a project report and environmental document for intersection improvements at its September 15, 2020, meeting, according to City of Irvine records. The record provides context on transportation planning in the area but does not specify public-transit arrangements for the headquarters.
The Alton HQ campus is being customized to accommodate about 1,100 employees, compared with 970 at the current headquarters. The plans include additional meeting and dining space, a dedicated test kitchen, an outdoor work area, a fitness center and a cafe, according to the Times. Nation’s Restaurant News also reported that Habit will have a separate kitchen for menu development; that detail appears in the outlet’s coverage of the move.
Statements reported by the Times and Business Journal characterize the project as an investment in the employees and future growth of both brands. Roger DeWames, president of Irvine Company Office Properties, said the landlord was working with the companies to tailor the campus to their needs. Those statements were supplied to the outlets and were not obtained independently for this article.
The companies are staying in Irvine
The move would preserve Taco Bell’s presence in Irvine, where the chain has had roots for more than 40 years. Glen Bell founded the company in Downey in 1962. Taco Bell moved from the Irvine airport area to its current headquarters in 2010 and renamed the street 1 Glen Bell Way after its founder, according to the Business Journal.
Habit joined Taco Bell at the site after Yum! Brands acquired the Irvine-based burger chain in 2020 for approximately $375 million, the Business Journal reported. The companies’ decision to move follows Taco Bell’s renewal of its existing lease for 11 years, an arrangement that extended through at least 2030, according to the Times.
Business context
Taco Bell reported $18 billion in systemwide sales in 2025, up 13% from the previous year, while Habit generated $706 million, according to the Times and Business Journal. In a separate corporate development, Yum! Brands said it completed the sale of Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital for roughly $1.5 billion in its announcement.
The headquarters plan follows a summer decline in Taco Bell foot traffic after the brand was linked to lettuce served at locations in five states. Federal health officials declared the related Cyclospora outbreak over on September 11, 2026. The outbreak sickened 12,883 people across 21 states and was traced to contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, according to Becker’s Hospital Review, which reported that Taco Bell removed lettuce from affected suppliers in mid-July.
