Centauri plans new office building in Lakewood Ranch

Centauri Insurance announced its plans Wednesday to purchase five acres in Lakewood Ranch to develop a three-story office building in 2016.

Although the exact site wasn't announced, Centauri's Kristi Lovelace, the marketing and advertising coordinator, said the new site will be less than a mile from the company's current headquarters at 5391 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. in the industrial park.

Centauri, which is a property and casualty insurance company. plans to build up to a 30,000 square-foot facility to house its corporate headquarters and offer tennant space. 

“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, in a release. “We wanted to have something that we can be proud of and call ours.

"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.”

The release also noted, "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."

The company plans to break ground on the project in mid- 2016 with a projected completion date in mid-2017.