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Mosiac Finds Fit In Lithia

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BY YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: March 2, 2009

LITHIA - Phosphate giant Mosaic Fertilizer will construct a new $20 million headquarters building in Circa FishHawk this year, putting several hundred subcontract employees to work in the next 11 months.

The company plans to break ground March 12 on the four-story, 110,000-square-foot building, which will be constructed using green building practices.

By spring 2010, the entire corporate operation will be housed under one environmentally friendly roof in a building that will be the gateway to the proposed Circa FishHawk community on FishHawk Boulevard, north of Boyette Road.

"Right now, our administration is scattered over four offices in Hillsborough and Polk counties," Mosaic spokesman David Townsend said. "We'll be under one roof for the first time in the new building."

The new Florida headquarters will open with 400 employees and have room for expansion.

Mosaic plans to obtain silver LEED certification for the building. LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, recognition is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council if a developer designs, constructs and operates a building using five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

"It will have an open design with lots of natural light available to all employees," Townsend said. The headquarters will also use native landscaping and capture stormwater runoff for irrigation use.

The Mosaic building will be the first construction in Circa FishHawk, formerly called Lake Hutto, a proposed development next to FishHawk Ranch.

While Ryan Companies is already at full staff for the project, developer Gary Bauler said numerous subcontractors will be hired to complete construction.

"In today's economy, with an 11-month construction schedule, we're hoping this will get the subcontractors, their employees and their families through the toughest part of this recession," Bauler said.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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