HAP to open innovation center in Detroit, move more employees to Troy

Originally Published By Crain’s.

Health Alliance Plan of Michigan is considering a plan to move some of its workforce from its longtime Detroit New Center headquarters to Troy and also intends to open an innovation center in downtown Detroit for research on emerging technology.

HAP CEO Terri Kline said the health insurer is in the early design phase for both projects and doesn’t know yet how large a space it will need for the innovation center or how many employees it will move to Troy from its New Center headquarters at 2850 W. Grand Blvd.

Earlier this year, Crain’s reported HAP plans to move about 725 employees from its Southfield office during the fourth quarter to Troy at 1414 E. Maple Road, the current location of United Shore Financial Services. United Shore plans to move to its new corporate headquarters in Pontiac later this year.

Kline said the downtown Detroit innovation center would just be for HAP, but she said there also are discussions to co-locate employees with parent company Henry Ford Health System, which has an innovation institute of its own at the Henry Ford Hospital campus.

Early plans call for HAP to keep some departments at its New Center headquarters but move some other unspecified departments to Troy, Kline said in an interview with Crain’s. HAP employs about 200 at its Detroit office.

Departments that will stay in Detroit include the data center, customer service, mail operations, the boardroom and the executive suite, Kline said. HAP has 1,100 employees in Detroit, Southfield and Flint and has space for several more hundred contractors.

“We have a lease on a building in Detroit that goes on for several more years (2024),” Kline said, adding: “We know everything in Southfield will move to Troy. We are looking to see what is best in Detroit and consolidate the rest into Troy.”

HAP will sublease 180,000 square feet of space in the 275,000-square-foot Troy building from Henry Ford. Kline said HAP expects to complete all employee moves during the first quarter of 2019.

Read the full story at: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20180404/news/657021/hap-to-open-in…