A New York-based financial services company has relocated a suburban office to downtown Hartford, the latest employer attracted by revitalization efforts in the city.
Global Atlantic Financial Group moved 85 employees into One Financial Plaza — the “Gold Building” — on Main Street last month, from its former offices in Simsbury. The company, which focuses on annuities, life insurance and reinsurance, signed a 24,000-square-foot lease, nearly triple what it occupied in Simsbury.
Dan O’Shea, the company’s Hartford-based chief human resources officer, said the company considered the suburbs when looking for a larger space to accommodate the company’s growth. But Global Atlantic ultimately chose downtown Hartford because of the changes that have taken place over the last few years, O’Shea said.
“We’re bullish on Hartford,” O’Shea said. “We feel Hartford is on the cusp. There’s a lot of energy and that’s something we wanted to be associated with.”
Global Atlantic signed a 10-year lease, signaling a long-term commitment to the city and the larger space will give the company room for anticipated growth and hiring, O’Shea said.
O’Shea said its office in Hartford also will allow it to more easily recruit employees who live south of Hartford because the commute is easier than it would be to the Farmington Valley.
The Hartford office, one of 11 around the country, specializes in marketing and product development as well as corporate functions such as legal, finance and human resources. Expansion plans for Hartford call for opening a call center this summer.
Overall, Global Atlantic employs more than 1,000.
The move by Global Atlantic follows other high-profile moves from the suburbs, including the corporate headquarters of United Bank and the offices of CohnReznick.
The lease is another boost for the Gold Building coming at the same time as Virtus Investment Partners Inc. announced it would lease about 65,000 square feet in the same 26-story office tower.
The Gold Building lost its anchor tenant, United Technologies Corp., in 2015 when the aerospace giant relocated its headquarters to Farmington.
After UTC’s move, the Gold Building had about a 30 percent vacancy, but with the new leases, the vacancy now stands at about 10 percent, according to Andrew Filler, a principal at commercial real estate services firm Avison Young in Hartford. Avison Young is the leasing broker for the Gold Building.
Global Atlantic was founded within financial services giant Goldman Sachs in 2004 and became an independent company in 2013. In 2014, Global Atlantic acquired Forethought Financial Group, which had purchased the annuity division of The Hartford Financial Services Group in 2013.
Both O’Shea and Rob Arena, co-president of Global Atlantic, are former executives of The Hartford.
Global Atlantic bills itself as the fastest growing company in the annuities industry over the last six years. The company first broke the $1 billion mark in sales in 2012, with $1.3 billion. Annual sales have grown each year, reaching $5.6 billion in 2016.
