Sun Life touts $24M Portland home as 'future of work'

People cutting ribbon at building opening

Photo / Tim Greenway Dan Fishbein, president of Sun Life U.S., cuts the ribbon at 110 Thames St., joined by developer Casey Prentice, U.S. Sen. Angus King, Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder and City Manager Danielle West.

Photo / Tim Greenway The building includes places where employees can eat, relax and socialize.

Photo / Tim Greenway Sun Life's new Portland home aims to make employees feel "at home" in the office.

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By Renee Cordes

Two and a half years after a virtual groundbreaking during the pandemic, Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) inaugurated its $24 million Portland office hub for 525 employees with space for hundreds more.

"This office is designed as the future of work," Dan Fishbein, president of Sun Life U.S., said at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Equipped with quiet spaces as well as areas for collaboration and technology-enabled conference rooms, the idea is to offer options so that employees can choose their work space "based on what they're doing," he said.

The choice extends to whether to work from home or the new Portland office, with "unique spaces to host clients, work, socialize and relax," he said.

Sun Life is a Canadian financial service company with C$1.36 trillion ($758 billion) in assets under management. Its new Portland hub is located at 110 Thames St. on the city's East End. The company provides asset management, wealth insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional clients.

Interior features include moss walls, spacious restrooms with showers, a studio with yoga mats for stretching and workouts, a prayer room and living-room-style areas furnished with sofas and book shelves to evoke a home-at-work feel. Sun Life U.S. and its affiliate business FullScope RMS occupy 76,785 square feet on three floors of the four-floor building.

Consigli Co. was the builder, while Gastinger Walker&, of Kansas City, Mo., was the interior architect, in collaboration with Red Thread and Pandamonium Design.

The Sun Life complex, part of the Portland Foreside mixed-use development that includes Twelve restaurant, can accommodate up to 860 employees.

Developer Casey Prentice is also planning to build a 130-room hotel, 1,000-car garage and 250 market-rate apartments on the site, he told Mainebiz ahead of a Portland Planning Board workshop next month on the next phase. Reflecting on the delayed start to the Sun Life building during the pandemic, he said, "It was wild."

'Future of Maine'

Fishbein was joined at Tuesday's ribbon cutting by Maine's two U.S. senators, Gov. Janet Mills, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder and City Manager Danielle West and Prentice, against a picture-window backdrop of sailboats and ferries on Casco Bay. Sun Life's new home is close to WEX Inc., Covetrus and Northeastern University's Roux Institute.

Asked what he likes best about the building, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told Mainebiz, "The openness, the views, the technology, the environmental concerns."

Later during his formal remarks, King told Sun Life employees gathered in the new space that "this is for you." He also recalled remarks he made in 1995, and referenced by Fishbein, envisioning a future where people work where they live.

"This is the future of Maine," King declared.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, quipped about not letting any of her staff members see the Sun Life building lest they would want to leave her employ and work there.

"I don't think I can compete with all of that," she said. On a more serious note, "this project is about economic opportunity," she said.

Noting that "work building" is a more apt description than "office," Mills expressed hope that Sun Life’s grand opening “sends a message” for others to come to Maine to live, work and raise a family.

More about Sun Life

Sun Life U.S. is one of the country's largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping more than 50 million Americans access health care and insurance benefits.

SunLife has been an employer in Maine for 30 years, with officers previously located in Scarborough and South Portland. In the new waterfront office building, it shares a roof with FullscopeRMS, a wholly owned subsidiary established 20 years ago that became part of Sun Life in 2016.

FullscopeRMS provides turnkey group benefits solutions to other insurance carriers and health plans.

During Tuesday's event with a host of impromptu tours around the building, it was business as usual for various employees on calls in private "phone booths," behind closed doors on Zoom, and at their desks.

Portland Foreside also has offices in the building, with retail space available on the ground floor.