Lease Gives Travelers More Space In City

September 26, 2006
From Staff Reports

As expected, The St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. has signed a lease for nearly 90,000 square feet of additional space at One Financial Plaza - the "Gold Building" - as the insurer seeks to expand in downtown Hartford and add to its workforce in the city.

The lease is in addition to 210,000 square feet of new office space the insurer will also occupy in the State House Square office and retail complex downtown. The State House Square lease was announced in August.

St. Paul Travelers' lease at the Gold Building will include floors five through eight and bring the 26-story marquee downtown tower to near full occupancy, according to CB Richard Ellis, the commercial real estate services firm that represented the building's owner, Hartford-based Talcott Realty Investors.

The leases are part of previously disclosed plans by St. Paul Travelers and state officials for an estimated $66.6 million renovation and expansion project by the insurer that will bring about 500 jobs to Hartford and more than 100 others to Windsor.

St. Paul Travelers also will renew its lease for 181,000 square feet that the insurer already has at State House Square.

The leases are seen as good news for the downtown office market and could help nudge up rental rates, which have been flat in recent years.