Terms of the lease were not disclosed, except that it is a long-term deal at the two-story building, but John Strittmatter of contractor the Ryan Cos. tells GlobeSt.com it will be a $13 million construction project.

Strittmatter is president of the Ryan/Southwest division of the Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. He tells GlobeSt.com this is the construction company's first project in California since the firm in 1994 established its Phoenix division, which has since built 6.5 million square feet of office and industrial property in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The Hartford space, which will occupy eight of the 104 acres at Santee Town Center, will accommodate an expansion of the company's existing San Diego operations. The company is scheduled to move into the new space, which is already under construction, in May of 2003.