Co-operators to move to new downtown site

The Co-operators Life Insurance Company is preparing for a big move next year.

The national company is moving its Regina headquarters from one area of downtown to another, to take over most of a newly renovated office to be renamed The Cooperators Place.

The building at 1900 Albert St. is currently known as Sherwood Place.

“The organization is committed to Regina and wanting to stay here,” said Conor Quinn, vice-president of group benefits for the company whose roots were planted in 1945 in Regina as the Co-operative Life Insurance Company.

Unlike a couple of local business counterparts, Co-operators is steering clear of Wascana Centre, where Conexus Credit Union and Brandt Developments are preparing to move their companies’ head offices through partnerships with the University of Regina and CNIB, respectively.

“The move over to Sherwood (Place) was done after an extensive assessment of available real-estate options and the decision was made that this was the best choice in the city based on our market analysis,” said Quinn.

The Co-operators is on pace to outgrow its current office space at 1920 College Ave.

Further, the current building ’s atmosphere is not ideal for a modern workplace: There are no standup desks.

There are no “hotelling stations,” where employees who travel a lot or work from home can stop into the office now and again. The walled-in offices are located near the windows, so “the majority of staff are in the dark.”

In the new space, “The colour palette and all those sorts of things have been designed and chosen with health and well-being in mind. There’s going to be a cafeteria, lots of meeting rooms, collaboration areas where employees can get together and chat, not necessarily requiring a meeting room. It’s going to be very open with natural light,” said Quinn.

Employee well-being is “part of who we are as an organization,” added Quinn.

The insurance and financial services company has about 650 employees in Regina.