Wellmark moving Cedar Rapids operation to new downtown building [The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa]

May 17--CEDAR RAPIDS -- Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa will move its downtown Cedar Rapids operations into a new office building slated for completion later this year.

The health insurance provider has leased 13,000 square feet of space in a building being constructed by Steve Emerson at Third Avenue and Sixth Street SE. Wellmark plans to move from the GreatAmerica building into the new quarters during the fourth quarter, spokeswoman Courtney Greene said.

It becomes the second tenant announced for the 45,000-square-foot, three-level building. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP will lease the third floor, to house about 40 employees.

About 50 Wellmark employees work in customer service, health care provider relations and sales in the Cedar Rapids office.

The new office building is outside the area that flooded during the record 2008 flood, but that is not one of the main reasons for the move, according to Wellmark Vice President of Property Management Matt Brown.

Brown said business continuity planning is always a consideration, but Wellmark decided to move primarily because of space design and parking needs. The new location will allow Wellmark's operations to all be housed on the same floor, and will have better parking availability, Brown said.

"We're excited to stay downtown where the hospitals are and the medical mall is going to be," Brown said.

Brown praised the city's rebound from the 2008 flood. Wellmark was not directly affected by the flood, but like other upper floor tenants, it had its utilities and building services disrupted.

Headquartered in Des Moines, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is Iowa's largest health insurance provider.

___

(c)2012 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

Visit The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) at thegazette.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services