Thursday, February 11, 2010, 2:09pm EST

Liberty Mutual unveils major Boston expansion

Boston Business Journal - by Eric Convey

Liberty Mutual Group plans to add 600 employees to its Boston operations with a $300 million, 585,000-square-foot expansion of its Back Bay headquarters, the insurer and government officials announced Thursday.

The construction, once approved, would raze the former Salvation Army and Benjamin Franklin Smith buildings in the Back Bay.

In addition to the permanent workers, who would join 2,500 already at the Liberty Mutual headquarters, the work would create about 500 construction jobs, the Boston Redevelopment Authority said in a prepared statement.

“Putting people back to work is a top priority,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said.

Liberty Mutual CEO Edmund F. Kelly said in a prepared statement that the construction was “economically attractive” because city and state officials worked “creatively” with the company.

The project is being considered for Tax Increment Financing, which reduces the property taxes on new construction.

Liberty Mutual is the country’s fifth-largest property and casualty insurer.

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/02/08/daily45.html?s=du&ed=2010-02-11&ana=e_du_pub&t=printable