John Hancock Financial Services is moving back to the Back Bay.
The insurance company became one of the first corporate tenants in the revitalized South Boston waterfront, after its parent company opened a 14-story headquarters building on Congress Street in 2004 when the neighborhood was a sea of parking lots. But now Hancock is returning to its roots by shifting its approximately 1,100 workers at 601 Congress St. to two Back Bay buildings — 200 Berkeley St., sometimes known as the Old John Hancock Building, with its distinctive weather beacon, and 197 Clarendon St. — by the end of the year.
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The move also enables Hancock to save on real estate costs. The company hasn’t decided whether it will sell or lease out the 465,000-square-foot office building that it’s exiting in the Seaport. The company has also been weighing a tower development at 380 Stuart St., near its two Back Bay buildings.
A Hancock spokeswoman says the real estate reduction will not be accompanied by a corresponding cut in the workforce. More than 2,100 people work in the Back Bay today, she said, spread among 1.2 million square feet, and there is enough room in the two buildings to accommodate the workers from the Seaport.
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