The St. Louis-based company inked a seven-year pact for the entire second floor at 1501 W. Fountainhead Pkwy. for its mental health and substance abuse subsidiary, Cenpatico Behavioral Health LLC, according to according to Devpal Gupta, head of Equis Corp.'s Phoenix office. He, Mike Cook and Pat Murray represented Centene in the transaction. Mark Gustin and Karsten Petersen with Trammell Crow Co.'s Phoenix office negotiated the deal for the Bloomington, IL-based building owner, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Gupta tells GlobeSt.com that Cenpatico's office creates 80 new jobs for the Valley. In March, Cenpatico Behavioral Health was awarded a $78.4-million contract from the state to provide services in Yuma, La Paz, Pinal and Gila counties. "They needed to open up ASAP and needed space that was ready to go," Gupta says, adding Centene was willing to locate anywhere in the Valley, but was limited because of timing. "They wanted class A or B space. The economics were also a big issue."

Gupta says the five-story, 100,000-sf office building is now fully leased. Rental rates in the 10-year old structure are about $21 per sf. "This space is second generation space so it made the most sense," he says. "With the exception of a couple of walls that needed to be relocated, it was ready for move-in."