Aetna, the 164-year-old insurance giant, is joining the millennial urbanization trend and moving its headquarters and a group of executives to New York City’s Meatpacking District.
To tempt the company away from Hartford, Conn., state officials provided $24 million in tax credits over 10 years.
The Big Apple’s Economic Development Corp. is delivering another $9.6 million in sales tax and property tax relief as Aetna moves 250 employees to 61 Ninth Avenue.
That adds up to a subsidy of $134,400 per employee.
To quiet critics, Gov. Cuomo announced that Aetna will be spending $84 million to furnish and equip the offices, and is bringing in some high-paying jobs.
The company, which will keep 2,000 employees in Hartford, has leased all the available office space in the new building, which will also have a 20,000-square-foot Starbucks Roastery in its base. The asking rent was around $150 per square foot.
The building under development by Vornado Realty Trust and Bobby Cayre’s Aurora Capital was designed by Rafael Viñoly and is now rising on the former Prince Lumber site at West 15th Street next to Apple.
Aetna is the latest in a growing list of companies moving to New York City after finding it tough to attract the young, hip and smart employees needed to modernize its brand.
One company, Mastercard, moved some employees back to the Big Apple after exiting town 20 years ago.
