AIG to move headquarters to Water Street

American International Group plans to move its headquarters to 175 Water Street, a building that the insurance giant owns, Bloomberg News reported.

The firm intends to move to the Water Street building, which is a block away from its current home base at 180 Maiden Lane, by the start of next year’s second quarter, someone familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

“We’re moving jobs all around where we can get the best workforce at the right price,” said AIG CEO Robert Benmosche. “This is about managing our expenses.”

There are about 1,900 employees at 180 Maiden Lane and 1,500 at 175 Water Street. The company had 63,000 employees as of Dec. 31, compared with about 116,000 at the end of 2008.

The Water Street location would be AIG’s third headquarters in five years. The company was previously based at 70 Pine Street, and signed a deal in 2009 to sell that building. [Bloomberg via Crain’s] – James Comtois