Brown University Health plans to move its administrative offices into 15 LaSalle Square in downtown Providence — a space previously owned by toy manufacturer Hasbro.
Hasbro announced plans to move out of the over 135,000 square foot building in December 2023. Employees based out of the Providence office have been moved to the company’s Pawtucket headquarters.
The new Brown Health Administrative Office, which consolidates many of the health network’s “underused” corporate locations, is “designed to accommodate remote and hybrid workers who may be in the office sporadically,” according to a BUH statement.
Consolidating its administrative offices into the LaSalle Square building will help Brown Health “achieve savings while instilling a more integrated workforce for our health system,” John Fernandez, president and CEO of Brown University Health wrote in a statement to The Herald.
The Providence Journal reported that the 10-year lease will increase future cost savings for Brown University Health. The organization currently operates out of various buildings, two-thirds of which are leased. The majority of these leases will expire in the coming years.
The move comes after Hasbro announced that it was considering a relocation of their global headquarters from Pawtucket to Boston in September 2024. The company has been based in Pawtucket for the past 62 years.
But local officials have expressed interest in keeping Hasbro in Rhode Island.
“The State and the City will absolutely pursue all options to maintain Hasbro’s presence in Pawtucket,” Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement to NBC Boston.
Regardless, the move to fill Hasbro’s vacant space “reinforces Providence’s status as a thriving economic hub and underscores our city’s appeal as a destination for businesses in growing sectors,” wrote Samara Pinto, the City of Providence’s deputy press secretary, in an email to The Herald.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley has expressed interest in the possibility of Hasbro moving its headquarters to Providence.
“The mayor has been clear that the best home for Hasbro is Providence,” Pinto wrote.
In any case, “the city remains focused on strategic growth and exploring ways we can better support conversions or productive use of any vacant commercial space,” Pinto added.
A Hasbro spokesperson declined to provide additional updates.
In filling the vacant space, Brown University Health’s move will “create new vibrancy in LaSalle Square and preserve over 600 jobs in the city,” Pinto wrote.