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Downtown Hartford has snagged another suburban insurance company looking for new digs.

Talcott Financial Group announced this week it plans to relocate its 300-person Windsor office to Hartford’s One American Row tower, better known as the “Boat Building,” later this year.

In total, the company plans to lease 52,000 square feet in the tower.

It will be the second such relocation in 12 months when it finally takes place. Sun Life relocated its 400-person Windsor office to Hartford’s “Gold Building” late last year. Executives at that firm said they were seeking an office that was “a magnet, not a mandate,” that could serve as a central gathering point for employees to meet in teams or with clients despite working hybrid at-home and in-office schedules.

Insurance firm Global Atlantic Financial Group also recently relocated a 100-person office downtown, as well.

In its announcement, Talcott cited downtown Hartford’s central location as a main motivator.

“The expansion of our presence in a new vibrant location in Hartford, one of the premier insurance markets in the U.S., is a significant next step in the growth of Talcott Financial Group,” Talcott Resolution Head of Operations Diane Krajewski said in a statement. “This highly accessible space will support the organization’s efficiency and collaboration, while providing an exceptional work environment for our employees and giving
us the space needed for continued growth.”

The Hartford office will join the company’s New York City and Bermuda locations. Talcott has $122 million assets under management.

Downtown Hartford’s 7.19 million-square-foot office market closed out 2022 with an overall vacancy rate of 30.3 percent, including 1.75 million square feet of direct vacancies, according to commercial brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. That was up from a 25.2 percent vacancy rate in the third quarter. Downtown, fourth-quarter average asking rent for class A properties sat at $24.70 per square foot, with the overall average asking rent was $23.21, between $2 and $7 higher than all other parts of the market.

Metro-wide, Hartford’s 24.99 million-square-foot office market saw vacancies hit 25.4 percent in the fourth quarter, Cushman & Wakefield said, with 5.52 million square feet of direct vacancies and 143,190 square feet of negative absorption in the quarter and 1.03 million square feet of negative absorption for the year. Vacancy rates were significantly higher among class A (27.4 percent) and class B (24.8 percent) properties than class C ones (9.3 percent).

Overall average asking rent was $20.64 for the quarter, with class A properties asking an average of $22.44.