Anthem Pushes Site Hunt
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has stepped up efforts in its search for a potential new home in Connecticut.
Sarah Yeager, a spokeswoman for Anthem, which is owned by WellPoint Inc., said the company has begun working with an external real estate broker to gather information about new potential office sites. The company employs about 1,500 people on its North Haven campus, which is owned by Quinnipiac University. Anthem’s lease expires in 2012.
Real estate sources familiar with the situation said the company has shown interest in potentially relocating to the 300,000-square-foot building known as the Campus at Greenhill in Wallingford. That prime office space was built specifically for the now-defunct Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc.
But downtown Hartford real estate also could be in the discussion.
Yeager declined to comment on potential locations and said no final decisions have been made.
New York-based Studley Inc. is working as the company’s broker dealer, Yeager said.
It’s not clear how much space the company is seeking.
“As standard practice for the company, we are developing a long-term occupancy strategy for the North Haven campus,” Yeager said. “Part of this strategy is to evaluate current and future space and business needs, and investigate the local real estate market to identify properties that may provide opportunities for reducing cost, while enhancing the work environment for our local employees.”
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield sold its 100-acre, 570,000-square-foot North Haven campus to Quinnipiac University for an undisclosed price in 2007, and then leased back much of the space.
Anthem initially agreed to remain in three of the four buildings it occupied at the time, but said it would eventually vacate the complex within 10 years.
At the time Anthem said it decided on the sale-lease back arrangement to save money and redeploy capital for other parts of its business, a strategy its parent company, WellPoint, developed for its other facilities.
Yeager said the company’s lease agreement with Quinnipiac allows the insurer to occupy buildings 2, 3 and 4 until September 2012, with the option to renew the lease for buildings 3 and 4 through September 2017.
The company is in the process of consolidating its operations to buildings 3 and 4.
In January, Quinnipiac University announced plans to open a medical school on the North Haven campus, saying it would invest $40 million to renovate the facility and potentially enroll the first class in 2013 or 2014.
Yeager said a potential move won’t happen immediately, and the company could stay on the North Haven campus until 2017.
No matter what happens, Anthem will stay in Connecticut, Yeager said.
As Anthem weighs its options, it could present an opportunity for Hartford landlords to fill some of their office vacancies. It has been predicted that vacancy rates for Class A office space in downtown Hartford could reach as high as 23 percent before the commercial markets turn around later this year.
Real estate experts said the city should get aggressive in trying the lure the company to downtown.
“Hopefully, Hartford government officials will reach out to WellPoint to let them know how interested Hartford is in their tenancy,” said Shawn McMahon, the senior vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle in Hartford. “The city will need to be proactive in getting WellPoint to consider Hartford.”
The soon-to-be former United Healthcare space at Connecticut River Plaza, which has 556,000 square feet, is one logical relocation alternative for WellPoint, McMahon said. The building is operated as a regional corporate headquarters with full building security, a corporate cafeteria, on-site and adjacent parking garages, and a building opportunity at the intersection of I-84 and I-91.
The north tower totals about 320,000 square feet, which is a perfect size for the WellPoint space requirement, McMahon said.
Other buildings with available space in downtown Hartford include 777 Main St., which will soon lose its largest tenant, Bank of America; Goodwin Square; 100 Pearl St.; and 20 Church St., which is known as the “Stilts” building.
The former Aetna campus in Middletown, which has 1.4 million square feet, could also be a possibility, sources said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments