Aetna to Move Corporate Headquarters to New York City

Aetna Inc. will move its corporate headquarters along with 250 jobs to Manhattan by late 2018, from Hartford, Conn., where it has been based since 1853.

The company said it chose New York as its new location as a means to tap a more robust pool of talent at a time when Aetna is repositioning itself as a consumer-oriented health company.

"New York City is a knowledge economy hub, and a driver of the innovations that will play a significant part in our ongoing transformation," said Mark Bertolini, chief executive of the company.

Aetna's departure from Hartford comes as the Connecticut is struggling with a spiraling fiscal imbalance that has led to a projected $5.1 billion budget deficit over the next two years. It is the latest big-name corporate loss for Connecticut after General Electric Co. left the state for Boston last year.

Its new corporate office will be in a 170,000 square-foot Chelsea building being developed by Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates at 61 Ninth Ave. The nine-story office building, designed by Rafael Viñoly, will feature a terrace for each floor and is located not far from Alphabet Inc.'s Google office. Starbucks has signed a lease to take 20,000 square feet at the building for a megastore.

The insurer said it would keep thousands of employees at its Hartford campus, and the company's consumer health and services team would continue to operate in Wellesley, Mass.

Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com and Keiko Morris at Keiko.Morris@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2017 11:14 ET (15:14 GMT)