CT reinsurance giant Gen Re expected to open offices in downtown Stamford in 2025

Middletown Press, The (CT)

Jan. 25—STAMFORD — Gen Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance firms, is expected to open early next year its new main offices in downtown Stamford, according to the property's owner.

Gen Re will be the largest tenant at 400 Atlantic St., after signing a lease last year for 97,359 square feet. Its arrival will underpin the revival of 400 Atlantic, a 15-story building covering approximately 500,000 square feet, which formerly housed the headquarters of Spectrum services provider Charter Communications.

"Gen Re is a longstanding tenant in Stamford. They are a symbol of financial strength and stability," George Comfort & Sons, which owns 400 Atlantic, said in a written statement. "Gen Re signing a lease at 400 Atlantic sends a message to the marketplace that 400 Atlantic is delivering a first-class product," near the downtown Metro-North station.

Messages left this week for GenRe were not returned.

Operating as a subsidiary of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Gen Re is one of a number of reinsurers with offices in Stamford. About 14 years ago, it relocated its main offices, from the downtown office complex at 695 E. Main St.-200 Elm St., to 120 Long Ridge Road, on the outskirts of the downtown.

According to the company's website, Gen Re is, "one of the leading life & health and property & casualty reinsurers in the world... represented in all major markets in a network of more than 40 offices worldwide."

Factoring in Gen Re's lease, the leasing rate at 400 Atlantic is approximately 50 percent, according to George Comfort & Sons. Other firms that have signed new leases in the past year include Cara Therapeutics, the maker of a treatment for the itch condition pruritus in patients with chronic kidney disease; marketing and talent-management firm Octagon; AXA Investment Managers; and shipping company Oldendorff Carriers.

There were several other changes last year at 400 Atlantic. Navigators Group, an insurer that was acquired in 2019 by The Hartford, gave back the entire eighth floor and left the building. Audio-electronics company Harman renegotiated its lease, to reduce its footprint from about 68,000 square feet to about 14,000 square feet.

George Comfort & Sons, along with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based AVG Partners, acquired 400 Atlantic for $72 million in 2022 from Charter, which was headquartered in the building from 2012 to 2021. The deal followed Charter's $100 million acquisition of the property in 2020 and its opening in 2021 of a custom-built headquarters building, a few blocks away, at 400 Washington Blvd.

In the past year, 400 Atlantic has undergone extensive renovations, which include work in the lobby, fitness center, cafeteria and conference facilities. Those improvements are expected to be completed next month.

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