Allied Insurance announced today the details of its plan for a new 350,000-square-foot, five-story facility to be constructed at 1200 Locust St.

Groundbreaking for the new building will take place in April. It will include space for 2,200 workstations and will house Nationwide property and casualty insurance operations, including Allied Insurance, Nationwide Agribusiness and Nationwide Insurance. In addition, a parking garage will be built in the square block of Mulberry and Cherry streets and 12th and 13th streets.

This represents the second phase of Allied’s most recent downtown campus expansion. Phase one included a 285,000-square-foot addition to its 1100 Locust St. building, to be completed in November 2007.

When complete, the Locust Street campus will total 1.167 million square feet, making it one of the largest contiguous facilities in Iowa. Total cost of the project is estimated at $142 million, including both phases of the office buildings and the parking garage. The development was made possible due to a partnership among several government entities and the private sector.

The new building and parking garage are to be complete by December 2008.