Hartford law firm Murtha Cullina is relocating its downtown headquarters next year from CityPlace I to the 28-story Prudential Building on Trumbull Street.
The firm, which also has offices in New Haven and Stamford, has signed an 11-year lease with the owners of 280 Trumbull St., Manhattan’s Grunberg Realty, that begins May 1, 2020, according to Thomas M. Daniells, a Murtha Cullina partner.
Daniells said more than 100 attorneys and staff will occupy a one-floor space in about 26,000 square feet. The new site, he said, consolidates the firm’s operations across a single floor compared to its more costly setup in two floors at CityPlace I on Asylum St.
“[CityPlace I is] a great building but we are ready to get a 2020 office with upgrades on computer systems and office buildout,” Daniells said Monday. “It gives us more uniform size offices. We are excited to have an updated state-of-the-art office here in Hartford and we do plan to be in Hartford for the long term”
Murtha Cullina is the second firm in the last month to make a major move downtown.
In March, Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley announced it too is leaving CityPlace I in Jan. 2020 to occupy 15,171 square feet at the 30-story Goodwin Square.
Daniells said Grunberg Realty, which acquired the Prudential Building in April 2004 for $65 million, “was very aggressive” in attempts to pry Murtha Cullina away from CityPlace I, where the firm became one of the skyscraper’s first tenants in 1986.
“This was just a cost and size combination that was good for us,” he said.
Murtha Cullina will now spend the next year or so designing and renovating its new Trumbull Street space to meet the needs of a 21st-century law firm, Daniells said, with equal space for all attorneys and other flexible working spaces.
