The $62 million campus will nearly double the company's current capacity in the area and will allow it to consolidate its sales and customer service call centers, currently located at 2075 Research Pkwy. and 1110 Chapel Hills Dr., respectively. Move-in is scheduled to start in early 2004. Hines is the developer."We are pleased that Progressive has chosen to consolidate its Colorado call centers in preparation for future growth," says Colorado Springs Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace. "The positive business atmosphere and quality of life offered in Colorado Springs will surely help Progressive accomplish its business goals. We welcome their continued growth in our community."

"This is an important move for us," says Richard Watts, group president, sales and services at Progressive. Progressive. "Adding space ensures our ability to grow and service our customers and consolidating our call centers allows us to provide a great place for our area employees to work."

Hines has had a relationship with Progressive since 1995, when it developed its first campus for their headquarters in Mayfield Village, OH, says Hines VP Doug McKinnon.Hines is responsible for overseeing project construction and providing advice and guidance to the development team on all aspects of the project during pre-development, construction and commissioning Gensler Architecture Design and Planning is the architectural firm for the project."Progressive challenged us to use this extraordinary site to create a great workplace for their employees while being good neighbors for the adjacent residential area," says Phillip McCurdy, VP, Gensler/Denver. "One of Progressive's goals is to be an employer of choice in Colorado Springs, and to do that they asked us to design the space, inside and out, from an employee point of view."

Progressive has had employees in Colorado Springs for nearly 20 years and doubled its employee base when it made job offers to more than 300 Zurich Personal Insurance employees who were losing their jobs when that company moved its operations from Colorado Springs to Baltimore in 1997.

In the past year, Progressive has grown 30% and hired more than 6,014 people throughout the U.S. In Colorado Springs the company added 308 new people in 2002, bringing to 887 the number of employees in the sales and customer service call centers.

Amenities at the new campus will include a cafeteria, a primary care center, a fitness center, a wellness program featuring a variety of health screenings and educational opportunities and an employee assistance program providing counseling services to Progressive people and their families.

The direct sales center is one of six that Progressive operates throughout the country; the Colorado Springs location sells auto, motorcycle, boat, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), recreation vehicle and personal watercraft insurance policies to consumers in 26 states.

The customer service call center is one of five the company operates throughout the country; the Colorado Springs location provides 24/7, in-person customer service to the company's customers and independent agents in 12 states.

Progressive is Colorado's sixth largest auto insurer, employing more than 1,000 people throughout the state and is represented by more than 700 Colorado independent insurance agencies. Nationwide, the company insures more than nine million drivers, employs more than 23,000 people and is represented by more than 30,000 independent agencies.