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Centauri Insurance Identifies Site for New Headquarters

Proposed Building Will Reflect Our Company's Vision and Offer Flexibility for the Future

SARASOTA, Florida – Centauri Insurance announced plans to develop a three-story office building later this year. The property and casualty insurance company based in Sarasota contracted to purchase approximately five acres of land in Lakewood Ranch to build up to a 30,000-square-foot facility to house its corporate headquarters and offer tenant space.

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Given its tenant only focus and depth of experience, Centauri selected Savills Studley, Inc. as its real estate broker to assist in identifying a suitable new headquarters. Savills Studley conducted extensive market analysis which revealed a lack of suitable Class A space. This led Centauri to explore other options, including designing and building its own facility.

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The new headquarters will allow the company to grow and better serve the needs of its customers and agents by providing space adequate to ensure Centauri continues to innovate, has cutting-edge infrastructure to service its clients and attract talent. Centauri expects that owning its headquarters will drive down operating costs, provide flexibility for growth and allow Centauri to offer a better value to its customers as the company looks to the future.

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 “Costs relative to benefit of ownership was a large consideration and we realized that in the long-term the company would be better off financially if we own our building,” said Ricardo Espino, president and CEO of Centauri. “We wanted to have something that we can be proud of and call ours.”

 “Once Centauri finalized due diligence on the decision to build our own building, we quickly turned our attention to location,” said Espino. “The Lakewood Ranch area was selected among the different sites because of the community’s reputation, numerous amenities and its attractiveness to potential employees. We also wanted to minimize the impact on our current employees by remaining in close proximity to our current space.”

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To serve as owner’s representative and assist Centauri in the design and construction phases of the project, Centauri selected Element Commercial Construction, LLC. After a thorough selection process, Fawley Bryant Architects was selected to design the new headquarters, while Tandem Construction will be in charge of construction. This elite design-build team has collaborated on numerous successful local projects including the new academic building at IMG Academy and the Clickbooth headquarters. The award-winning team has completed 71 projects together valued at more than $150 million.

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“We are proud to have been selected as a design-build partner for the Centauri Insurance corporate headquarters in Lakewood Ranch,” said Peter Hayes, president of Tandem Construction.

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“We are also excited about this opportunity as the team assembled has been inspired by Centauri’s vision and is well supported by experienced professionals dedicated to quality and service,” said Hayes. “It is a great match of talent and purpose and we are looking forward to the collaboration and focused effort that is necessary to create and construct another successful project in our local community.”

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Steve Padgett, Vice President of Fawley Bryant, echoes the sentiment. “We are excited to collaborate with the Centauri team to help them realize their vision. We are working together to design a building that will reflect their unique business dynamics and plan for their future growth,” he said.

During the next five years, Centauri plans to add a number of new Sarasota-based positions with salary ranges that exceed the current county averages. The proposed building will give Centauri the space and flexibility needed to establish these positions. The company plans to break ground on the project in mid-2016 with a projected completion date in mid-2017.

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