FM Moving Global Headquarters From Johnston to Providence, Rhode Island

FM, the mutual commercial property insurer formerly known as FM Global, will move its global headquarters from Johnston to downtown Providence, the company announced Tuesday. The insurer will make 10 Memorial Boulevard its corporate home and will eventually close the Johnston campus where it has been based since 1974.

The announcement settles a question that has hung over the building since February, when FM paid $68.5 million for the 202,000-square-foot building and a long-term ground lease. At the time, company officials said the downtown building would complement the Johnston campus. The plan is now the other way around: Johnston closes, Providence becomes the headquarters.

A building that changed signs twice

The 10-story building at 10 Memorial Boulevard stands across from Providence Place, on land that was part of the Capital Center redevelopment of the city's former rail yards. The land is owned by Capital Properties Inc. The building carried the IGT sign for years. FM replaced it with its own logo in August.

Brightstar, the lottery company formerly known as IGT, will stay in the building, its spokesman said after the February purchase. The other commercial tenants, including Fidelity and the Capital Grille, will also stay, the Providence Journal reported.

FM is renovating multiple floors before the move. Renovations are expected to be completed by late 2027, Providence Business News reported, and Chief Operating Officer Randall Hodge said the building will be ready for move-in by 2027, with work needed on floor layouts, IT infrastructure, the lobby and furnishings so the space matches the company's offices worldwide.

Johnston timing still open

What happens to Johnston, and when, is not settled. "While Johnston will eventually cease to serve as an FM work location, no decision has been made on the timing of that transition, and we continue to evaluate plans for the property," an FM spokesman said in an email reported by the Providence Journal.

Hodge has said the Memorial Boulevard building's location, a block from the Amtrak station, was one of the key factors in the purchase. Owning real estate is also part of the company's business model, since properties form part of its investment portfolio.

The move returns the headquarters to the city where the company began. FM got its start in 1835 serving Rhode Island's textile industry, after its founder, an engineer, found he received no benefit from building mills that were less likely to burn down. It is a mutual insurer, which means its customers, including many Fortune 1000 businesses, are also its owners.

Regionally, the Providence building will sit alongside a new building near South Station in Boston and an office in Norwood, near the Route 28 train station. The company's research campus in Glocester, which Hodge called the largest of its kind, stays put. Up to 100 clients a week visit that campus, and the company said a Providence home base makes it easier to host them.