The Connecticut Department of Banking is shrinking its downtown Hartford footprint as it relocates to a new office.
The Connecticut Department of Banking is shrinking its downtown Hartford footprint as it relocates to a new office — its first move in three decades.
The agency has signed a 10-year lease for 22,000 square feet on the 16th floor of 280 Trumbull St., according to Matthew Smith, the department’s director of governmental relations and consumer affairs. The move, expected to take place in the coming weeks, will shift the department from its longtime home at 260 Constitution Plaza, where it has occupied 30,144 square feet for the past 30 years.
Smith said the new office is designed to better meet the needs of a modern workforce, with a layout that promotes collaboration and includes “hoteling” workstations for flexible use. The space can accommodate all 131 department employees and allows room for future growth, he said.
The lease calls for monthly rent payments of $65,046 for the first five years and $61,988 for the remaining term, he said. Once tenant improvements are paid for, the department expects to save about $163,465 over the life of the lease.
At the banking department’s request, the Department of Administrative Services solicited proposals for new office space, and 280 Trumbull submitted the lowest qualifying bid under state procurement rules, Smith said.
The Department of Banking noted that it’s an industry-funded agency, meaning no taxpayer dollars were used to cover relocation or lease costs.
The new lease comes as downtown Hartford’s office market continues to face high vacancy rates amid a post-pandemic trend of companies downsizing their space.
A study published this summer found that roughly 41% of downtown Hartford’s office inventory was vacant or soon would be, prompting warnings about declining property values and calls for new state incentives.
The 29-story, 665,278-square-foot office building at 280 Trumbull has been owned by New York realty investor Grunberg Realty since 2004.
