Social services provider Providence Service Corp. says it will relocate its corporate headquarters to downtown Tucson from its current east-central location by this summer.
Providence - one of Tucson's few publicly traded companies - said it will remodel and lease the vacant building at 64 E. Broadway, at the southwest corner of North Scott Avenue and West Broadway. It is across the street from the site of UniSource Energy Corp.'s planned new headquarters.
Providence is now headquartered at 5524 E. Fourth St., just east of North Craycroft Road.
Providence plans to move its executive and corporate staff of about 50 people as soon as the remodeling is finished, the company said in a news release.
UniSource, parent of Tucson Electric Power Co. and the only Tucson-based company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, plans to move from the tower that bears its name at 1 S. Church Ave. to a new building at 88 E. Broadway by the end of 2011.
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"This will put two of Tucson's public companies side by side and should further support the downtown area as a developing business environment," Providence Chairman and CEO Fletcher McCusker said in a news release.
Providence has been traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market since 2003.
McCusker cited recent improvements downtown, such as the Scott Avenue streetscape, Rialto block facade improvements, new restaurants, retail and fitness space "along with the promise of a more friendly business environment" as factors that helped persuade the company to relocate.
The planned headquarters building is owned by Ron and Patricia Schwabe. Providence is leasing the property through Peach Properties, which is also owned by the Schwabes.
"The commitment of one of the biggest businesses in Tucson is huge" for downtown redevelopment, Ron Schwabe said.
He noted that the company's employees will join other downtown workers that form a "captive" clientele for restaurants and other businesses in the area.
Mayor Bob Walkup said he hopes that Providence's relocation will be "another spark to get local and national businesses to see the value and long term prospects of a downtown Tucson location."
The mayor's office, along with the Downtown Tucson Partnership, Madden Media and Tucson Electric Power, were actively involved in recruiting Providence to move downtown, the company said.
Providence, which provides counseling, nonemergency medical transportation and other social services under government contracts, employs more than 11,000 people nationwide.
DID YOU KNOW
The building at 64 E. Broadway, dubbed "The Scott," was originally built in 1909 and added onto in 1919, according to Peach Properties.
The building was occupied by a gold-weighing business and later housed doctors' offices and a pharmacy. The most recent tenant was the nonprofit Southern Arizona Legal Aid.
Contact Assistant Business Editor David Wichner at dwichner@azstarnet.com or 573-4181.