Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March9,2015•Hartford Business Journal 5 860.871.1111 Toll Free: 800.741.6367 nemsi.com License #'s: E1-104939 • S1-302974 • P1-203519 • F1-10498 • SM1-192 • MC-1134 MECHANICAL • ELECTRICAL • PLUMBING • SHEET METAL • BUILDING AUTOMATION • FACILITIES SERVICES SERVICE SOLUTIONS…ONE SOURCE Only one company can build, power, protect, and maintain the critical systems in virtually every type of facility. Our clients trust us to deliver end-to-end facilities solutions, so they can focus on their core business. We are experts in: Facilities Services Preventive Maintenance Programs Onsite Operations & Maintenance RepoRteR's Notebook Grant Thornton seeks downtown Hartford home Grant Thornton LLP, one of America's largest tax, audit and business advisers, is eyeing spaces in downtown Hartford for a relocation of its Glastonbury practice aimed at making the Capital City a key epicenter of its northeast turf. Grant Thornton's Glastonbury office at 124 Hebron Ave. currently houses about 30 tax/audit practitioners and advisers who serve major to mid-size insurance and finan- cial-services firms and nonprofits. But the Hart- ford move pres- ages its eventual goal to have 75 staffers in downtown in the coming years, its top regional executive says. Grant Thorn- ton's Stamford office that opened last fall with 50 workers, too, will expand staffing in the coming years. "We're in the process of deciding where we're going to move'' in downtown Hartford, said Frank Kurre, Grant Thornton's Metro New York and New England managing partner. The firm has a short list of candidate office sites for its Hartford move, but Kurre declined to identify them, its leasing broker or its relocation budget, citing negotiating and competitive priorities. Kurre says he will be in Hartford later in March, visiting those sites, with the goal of relocating to downtown by Aug. 1, the start of Grant Thornton's fiscal year. Grant Thornton is one of a half dozen regional and national accounting firms that have in recent years targeted down- town Hartford for expansion or relocation. CohnReznick LLC was the latest, with its November relocation of about 230 staffers from Glastonbury and Farmington into 50,000 square feet on the upper floors of Metro Center office building, 350 Church St. Most firms say they recognize the need to be closer to existing or potential clients, as well as to leverage the central district's mount- ing appeal to younger and older workers and residents who are being drawn in by greater housing, dining and entertainment options. "I'm not really responding to pressure from anyone'' to relocate to downtown, Kurre said. "Collectively, we felt it was stra- tegically important for us to be in Hartford." Kurre says that space must accommodate its 21st century vision of what working for a major accounting firm should be like. That means, he said, "space that is open and bright." "It's very conducive to teamwork,'' said Kurre, a former Arthur Andersen partner. "I see it as more akin to Yahoo/Google. It's not the stodgy, old accounting-firm look of the 1970s.'' The Hartford office will have videocon- ferencing capabilities and multi-purpose conference rooms for meetings and other events. It also must have room for such "teambuilding activities'' as foosball and ping pong tables, and space where staff can chill and nosh free popcorn. Grant Thorn- ton's relocated Melville, Long Island, N.Y., office is a template for the kind of facilities it wants in Hartford, Kurre said. "We work very hard," Kurre said of his staff. "I want them to feel comfortable, almost like they're working in their living room.'' Last October, Grant Thornton opened a new, 6,300-square-foot Stamford office with 50 workers at 300 First Stamford Place, near the Stamford Transportation Center. Eventually, that office will have 25 more staffers, Kurre said. Currently, the Glastonbury office is linked to Grant Thornton's Boston office. "My expectation would be in a few years, we would have 150 employees in Connecticut — 75 in Hartford and 75 in Stamford,'' he said. – Gregory Seay Frank Kurre, Grant Thornton regional managing partner Grant Thornton's revamped Long Island office space in Melville, N.Y., features meeting space, left, and a staff lounge area, with TV and foosball table. Its downtown Hartford office will have similar amenities. P H O T O s | C O n T r i b u T e d Officially Produced by: Now available are official PDF REPRINTS of your Article for your MARKETING usage All copyright fees included Share the excitement of being published! 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