Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

July 18, 2024

Global insurance brokerage Lockton moves into Blue Back Square

HBJ PHOTO | DAVID KRECHEVSKY The Rutherford Building in Blue Back Square, at 65 Memorial Road, West Hartford.
By David Krechevsky

Hartford may be the nation’s insurance capital, but don’t tell that to Blue Back Square in West Hartford.

Lockton Companies LLC, a global insurance brokerage, has relocated its  main Connecticut office from Farmington to the first two floors of the Rutherford Building at 65 Memorial Road in Blue Back Square.

It joins Beazley PLC, a global underwriter for mostly commercial lines of insurance, which opened new offices on the third floor of the Rutherford Building in May. Beazley also relocated from Farmington.

Lockton, which maintains a smaller office in South Norwalk, officially opened its new 22,000-square-foot office around the last week of May. The space is significantly larger than its previous offices at 76 Batterson Park Road in Farmington, a company official said.

The new location formerly was occupied by New York Sports Club, a membership fitness facility that abruptly closed in October 2020 after its parent company filed for bankruptcy. 

According to Andrew Sufian, vice president of Brand Street Properties, which owns Blue Back Square, New York Sports Club occupied a total of 40,000 square feet on two floors. His company invested in converting the space for office use. In addition to leasing to Lockton, the other 18,000 square feet was leased about 18 months ago to a financial services company, he said.

Hartford HealthCare also occupies about 60,000 square feet in the building.

Lockton employs 110 people in the West Hartford office. The company, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri, employs more than 11,700 people overall in 135 offices worldwide. 

According to the company, it serves clients in more than 140 countries and reported $3.5 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024, which ended April 30. The revenue figure represented a 15% increase year over year.

Sufian said Blue Back Square, which includes a mix of retail, residential and office space in the town Center, is now “over 95% leased at this point.”

“The demand, particularly the office demand, has exceeded expectations,” Sufian said. “It’s been a very bright spot in the market. Everyone wants to come to West Hartford.”

He added that the new tenants are seeing a greater-than-expected return to work by employees who had been working remotely because of the amenities available in Blue Back Square.

“The amount of employees utilizing these offices has exceeded even their expectations for both of these tenants,” he said, referring to Lockton and Beazley.

Liz Spencer, vice president for people services with Lockton, said the new location offers employees the opportunities for walking meetings and the ability to patronize local restaurants and retailers.

“There’s a lot of excitement and buzz about being in this area,” she said.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF