Insurance firm to build new headquarters

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Centauri Insurance plans to develop a three-story office building later this year for a corporate headquarters.

The property and casualty insurance company contracted to purchase about five acres in Lakewood Ranch to construct the building, which will be up to 30,000 square feet, according to a statement. There will also be room to lease space to other tenants. Savills Studley Inc. was Centauri's real estate broker for the deal.

Centauri, based out of a Lakewood Ranch office building since it was founded in 2011, expects the new headquarters to lower operating costs and provide flexibility for growth. “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,” Centauri President and CEO Ricardo Espino says in a statement.

The company plans to break ground on its new headquarters midway through 2016 for likely completion in mid-2017, according to the statement.