Allstate plans to open a 45,000-square-foot "innovation hub" in the spring in the Merchandise Mart building on the banks of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago.
It will house nearly 400 employees, the insurer said, most of them members of its quantitative research and analytics department or connected car division.
The space will bring together "technology and innovation players," a number who are already employed by the company in various work spaces, company spokeswoman Laura Strykowski told Best's News Service.
Allstate corporate headquarters is 25 miles northwest of Chicago. Strykowski said the company has had office space in the Windy City before and decided on this location because it's likely to attract "talent in data and analytics."
She said the company was still working on how many positions in the new location would be filled by existing employees.
In a statement, Allstate said its quantitative research and analytics team "leads research, synthesizes data and builds predictive modeling" that helps the company anticipate risk, develop products and services and improve safety.
The insurer said its connected car division develops telematics. "Nearly 1 million users have signed up for the company's core telematics solution, Drivewise," said Allstate, and connected car employees "identify and create offerings such as vehicle diagnostics, crash detection, gas-price information, safest-route mapping, cross-marketing promotions and rewards programs."
The Merchandise Mart was built by Marshall Field & Co. to consolidate wholesale operations under one roof. It was opened in 1930 on the former site of the Chicago and North Western Railroad's Wells Street Station complex. It was purchased in 1945, according to the Mart's website, by Joseph Kennedy and was sold by the Kennedy family in 1998.
The 25-story building covers two city blocks and has 4.2 million square feet. It houses offices and showrooms, shops, restaurants and event space. More than a dozen trade and consumer shows are held there each year.
Allstate's net income available to common shareholders dropped 42% in the fourth quarter, to $460 million. For the year it dropped 25.2%, to $2.06 billion. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Wilson said the company expects automobile frequency and severity to continue to rise in 2016.
Allstate is the third-largest property/casualty writer in the United States, based on net premiums written, with $27.8 billion in 2014, according to the annual ranking in Best's Review.