Insurance company Disability RMS, with some 350 employees, has begun moving out of its offices in the One Riverfront Plaza building, a few months before its lease expires in January.

While expected for a year, the impact from the departure from downtown Westbrook won’t be any easier. Employees of the company routinely eat and shop at local restaurants and businesses and can be seen daily using the riverwalk.

However, city officials continue to say they are optimistic that the building won’t be vacant long.

Disability RMS, which has grown steadily since moving to Westbrook in 2004, announced a year ago that it would be relocating its company to South Portland, after negotiations on its Westbrook lease fell through.

Matt Gilligan, the president of Disability RMS, confirmed Tuesday that the company, a provider of disability risk management products and services, has begun the process of relocating to South Portland.

“We don’t have dates yet, but it is a process,” he said about the move.

Gilligan said most of the move will occur in stages.

“We plan to be completely over there by the end of the year,” he said, adding that Jan. 1, 2016, is the “latest” timeframe.

Gilligan said exact dates for the move have been elusive given that work is still being done to the new offices at Southborough Office Park.

In last September’s announcement about the company’s relocation, Westbrook officials said they had previously learned that Disability RMS was struggling to renegotiate its lease with the landlord, Pendleton Westbrook LLC, based in Hackensack, N.J., and that it had begun looking at alternative space.

Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said Tuesday that the building’s landlord is in discussions with multiple potential tenants.

“We anticipated the move, and we are actively engaged with the landlord in New Jersey and prospective tenants,” he said. “We remain optimistic.”

Baker said both the city and the landlord have been bringing potential tenants “to the table,” which include businesses that would be new to the area. He said due to confidentiality, businesses don’t tend to announce moves until everything has been solidified.

But with the downtown about to lose the presence of hundreds of employees, Baker said he hopes that a number of “small successes” can potentially make up for the large loss of Disability RMS.

Baker said Westbrook has had some momentum during the last year since Disability RMS announced the move, including small businesses like Rosen’s Deli relocating to the city, citing lower rents and business-friendly city staff.

“It would be ridiculous for anyone not to agree that Disability RMS is a big hit in the short term,” he said. “But focusing on that is overlooking all the singles and doubles that we’re hitting every week, too.”

Other new businesses have also moved in next door at the Dana Warp Mill. An announcement was made this week that LocalHost Coworking, known as a “business incubator,” would be moving into the mill. The company provides a server to allow potential web developers to create websites and applications more quickly. Owner Peter Anania said he found Westbrook after a frustrating search for office space in Portland.

Baker said the landlord of One Riverfront Plaza is favoring a search for multiple tenants, which, if successful, could potentially yield more employees than now. One Riverfront Plaza is 125,000 square feet with an accompanying parking garage. Disability RMS leased the entire building, but one floor was vacant.

Baker said local businesses have been planning for the potential loss of some business, and are even molding their operations.

Chris Dougherty, owner of Doughboy’s Deli on Bridge Street, said Wednesday that the loss of the company will affect the downtown, but it also has resulted in good news for his business. He said Doughboy’s will open a small second location in the cafeteria of the Southborough Office Park.

“It’s them plus another 300 people in the building,” he said.

James Tranchemontage, the owner of the Frog & Turtle restaurant on Bridge Street, said he’ll most likely feel the loss of Disability RMS, but said it’s not something that will make or break his business. Tranchemontage said the biggest loss will be their community involvement.

“It’s not totally detrimental, but they always had a commitment to the downtown,” he said. “They sponsored things like the Maine Market, Bands on the Boardwalk and donated to the teen center.”

Insurance company Disability RMS has begun the process of moving out of its One Riverfront Plaza building in downtown Westbrook. Courtesy photo

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