The last vestiges of ING’s Hartford presence will disappear next year when the Dutch insurance-financial services giant moves its remaining 150 downtown employees to its Windsor campus to save money.
ING officials confirmed to HBJ Today that ING’s Investment Management division, housed in downtown Hartford’s State House Square office tower, will relocate to its suburban campus on One Orange Way, off Day Hill Road.
Windsor is ING’s largest U.S. location, with nearly 2,000 employees, and the headquarters of its U.S. retirement services business.
ING currently occupies 74,000 square feet in State House Square, including space for a data center.
ING spokesman Phil Margolis said the company’s State House Square lease is set to expire in early 2012. After reviewing its options, the company “concluded that moving the people and data center to the ING Windsor location is most advantageous for our business and our employees,” Margolis said.
The move, to take place next spring or summer, will result in significant annual cost savings for the company, he said. He did not elaborate.
“We have the room in Windsor, and the fairly new site offers free parking, an on-site cafeteria and fitness center, convenient access to major highways and more employee engagement activities,” he said.
The move will also bring ING Investment Management physically closer to ING U.S. Retirement Services, an important business partner, Margolis said.
Real estate broker Shawn McMahon said the move is a “huge loss for State House Square and the city of Hartford.”
“They have effectively severed all occupancy ties with the city of Hartford,” McMahon said. “We all hope this is a trend that doesn’t continue.”
McMahon said ING was a great tenant, and that he was very disappointed to lose them. The company’s departure will mean its iconic blue and orange logo will be removed from the building.
Hartford spokeswoman Sarah Barr said “We have been in contact with ING and its representatives and they have re-affirmed their commitment to the city and the positive working relationship. The decision was solely a real estate one to better utilize vacant and existing space.”
The news of the move comes just weeks after ING Group, which has its corporate headquarters in Amsterdam, announced that it is embarking on a global reorganization as the company splits itself in two and spins off its insurance arm, a dramatic business move that began in late 2009.
ING’s reorganization includes reducing its U.S. workforce by 600 positions, including 60 layoffs at its Windsor facility.
ING became a major player in Hartford when it bought Aetna’s financial services business in 2000. At the time, that division employed about 2,500 local employees, and occupied more than 500,000 square feet of downtown Hartford real estate. ING now employs just fewer than 2,000 people in Connecticut, and will soon hold no space in Hartford.
Margolis said ING remains committed to the Greater Hartford region and will remain an active corporate partner to organizations like The Boys and Girls Club of Hartford, Hartford’s Camp Courant, Junior Achievement, YWCA, The Urban League and The Aurora Foundation.Â
In addition, ING sponsors a number of important events in the region, including the ING Hartford Marathon.
