Sun Life and Portland Foreside break ground on new Portland waterfront development

WELLESLEY, Mass. and PORTLAND, Maine, Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Construction at the future site of the new Sun Life U.S. downtown Portland office has officially begun. Sun Life and subsidiary FullscopeRMS will occupy 77,000 square feet, the largest office space in what will be a new, bay-facing building that will also house other office and retail space. Portland Foreside Development Company is leading the project, which was announced last fall and is on track for completion in 2022.

"Based on what we've learned over the past nine months, we are evolving our approach to the future of work, and with it our vision for the use of our new state-of-the-art office space," said Dan Fishbein, M.D., president of Sun Life U.S. "We are excited to see the new space begin to come together as construction moves forward. This new office will be a terrific space for those who choose to be office-based, provide a collaborative environment for teams to come together for projects and events, and provide a great site for us to showcase our capabilities to clients and business partners."

Sun Life's Portland campus will include a Center for Healthy Work, which demonstrates the company's Work is Healthy or WisH philosophy – the belief that working is healthier for the individual, their family and society. The Center's Client Path offers a live view of Sun Life's innovative approach to helping members with disabling conditions return to work and wellness. Sun Life's Portland-area employees deliver employee benefits plans and help members across the country with disabling illnesses or injuries stay at work or return to gainful employment through vocational rehabilitation and workplace accommodations. The teams at FullscopeRMS offer customized, turnkey insurance and risk-management capabilities for disability, life, voluntary and medical stop-loss products to more than two dozen insurance and health plan partners.

Sun Life has already made commitments to working with the growing pool of talent in Portland, including a recently announced partnership with Northeastern University's Roux Institute, to train and recruit employees in data science, and apply these skills to actuarial sciences and other areas of the insurance industry.

"We are looking forward to working with local education partners to develop new talent, while also tapping into the Portland area's disability insurance cluster to add to our existing team," added Fishbein.

The development area at 58 Fore Street will also include dining, hospitality and entertainment venues, and a feature never before available to the city – direct access to the waterfront through scenic public park plazas via a grand stairway, which can be seen in the virtual groundbreaking video, along with messages of support from Governor Janet Mills, Senator Angus King, Senator Susan Collins and Portland Mayor Kate Snyder.

"Our vision for this area has been a long time coming, and we're thrilled to get underway and create a destination location for Portland residents and tourists alike," said Casey Prentice, managing partner at Portland Foreside. "Having a major business presence and employer like Sun Life as our first resident shows the potential of this great location."

"Portland continues to grow as a hub for business, drawing students and professionals with diverse backgrounds from all over the country," said Jon Jennings, Portland City Manager. "With a long-standing presence in Greater Portland, I'm excited to see Sun Life establishing a new office right in the heart of the city, supporting an area in which people will want to work, shop and live."    

Sun Life area offices are currently in Scarborough and South Portland. SunLife and FullscopeRMS employees have been working from their homes since pandemic limitations began in March, and returning to any office will initially be voluntary when offices reopen.

About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of C$1,186 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

In the United States, Sun Life is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary and medical stop-loss. Sun Life and its affiliates in asset management businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 5,500 people. Group insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in New York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us.

About FullscopeRMS
FullscopeRMS delivers risk management expertise, performance and brand protection to partners in the insurance industry by helping them bring new products to market and expanding their current business. FullscopeRMS provides its clients – including 25+ insurance carriers and health plans – with deep knowledge, expert talent and the specialized systems required to offer full disability, absence management, life, stop-loss, and supplemental health to employers. For more information, please visit www.fullscoperms.com.

FullscopeRMS is a standalone company in the Sun Life U.S. group of businesses.

About Portland Foreside Development Company
Portland Foreside Development Company (PFDC) is a real estate development firm headquartered Portland, ME focused on the development and management of complex, urban mixed-use projects and adaptive reuse of historic structures. PFDC has in-house expertise in hospitality operating businesses, real estate investment and development, corporate finance, civil engineering, large-scale construction, urban planning and community development. Focused on developing spaces for the community to celebrate and thrive, PFDC's redevelopment of the 58 Fore Street site will connect the adjacent neighborhoods to the water and bring new life and enjoyment to the historically significant former Portland Company site.

Media contact:
Devon Fernald
Sun Life U.S.
781-800-3609
[email protected] 

Connect with Sun Life U.S.

https://www.facebook.com/SLFUnitedStates
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sun-life-financial
https://twitter.com/SunLifeUS

SOURCE Sun Life U.S.

Related Links

http://www.sunlife.com/us