NY Life Moves Into Mount Pleasant Campus Next Month

Since then, the company embarked on what it termed as a "multi-million dollar" renovation of the 383,000-sf property. New York Life Insurance purchased the complex, which sits on 76 acres, from a joint venture of the Gale Co. of Florham Park, NJ and a Morgan Stanley real estate investment fund. The building, formerly known as the Mount Pleasant Executive Center, was used previously as a conference facility by IBM.

New York Life will move some of its life and annuity operations to the Westchester campus. The new campus will also house the Northeast zone office of the New York Life Agency system. A vast majority of the estimated 1,000 jobs will be from Manhattan.

"This additional campus provides a growing company like ours with the ability to provide the highest level of service and support to our millions of policyholders," says Ted Mathas, executive vice president, New York Life. Mathas, a resident of Armonk, NY and co-head of the life and annuity operations of New York Life, will be the senior executive at the new Mount Pleasant campus.

Mathas says that employees will occupy the new campus in phases, with the first move planned for June 5 and the last employees taking occupancy on Sept. 24. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for October, once all employees have moved in, he adds.

The purchase of the Westchester campus in 2003 was part of a decentralization program the company launched to reduce the risks of having so many employees in one place. New York Life Insurance is headquartered at its landmark 51 Madison Ave.

The Westchester County Industrial Development Agency approved an incentive package worth approximately $1.7 million in sales tax exemptions last year in connection with New York Life's purchase of the property. The company, which was represented by Cushman & Wakefield, had studied properties in Connecticut, before deciding to acquire the Mount Pleasant complex. CB Richard Ellis represented the seller in the transaction.