Three growing companies have located in the downtown 401 Building that underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation, officials said at a press conference on Friday morning.

Shared Health, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield, has selected the 401 Building as its headquarters. The roster of Shared Health employees will grow to include 50 people by the spring of this year and the number of employees is expected to steadily increase in 2007.

“We looked at a lot of different possibilities when we were evaluating expansion options,” said Lisa Cultip, director of business solutions at Shared Health. “The quality of the 401 Building’s renovation coupled with the amenities and location fit our needs perfectly.”

In addition to Shared Health, the 401 Building will also house the new headquarters for PlayCore, one of the leading backyard products and playground equipment companies in the world, and the newly established Chattanooga area offices of Sargent & Lundy, a worldwide leader in professional services for the nuclear power industry. Sargent & Lundy will create approximately 140 new engineering jobs.

Additionally, The Rush Fitness Complex will open its first full-feature facility in downtown Chattanooga at the 401 Building. The new fitness complex will be in the 15,000-square-foot space under the 401 Building’s parking garage. The complex is expected to open by May of 2007 and approximately 60 full and part-time employees will be hired.

“The 401 Building is an example of the key role developers play in economic development,” said Mayor Ron Littlefield. “I commend Larry Armour and Steve Dillard for transforming the underutilized building into a gateway facility that embodies downtown Chattanooga’s renewed economic vitality.”

County Mayor Claude Ramsey said the 401 Building is an example of the quickening pace of the regional economy. “These companies expect to create over 100 new family-wage jobs in the next six months. Most of these companies are small businesses that employ highly-skilled professionals to grow their businesses very rapidly.”

The building includes 30,000 square feet per floor of Class A office space, which is the largest floor plate for lease of any building in downtown Chattanooga, 430 covered parking spaces, high levels of security, new skywalks and advanced technology features.

“We have thought of every possible amenity we could provide to satisfy the needs of our tenants and to continue building our tenant roster,” said Mr. Dillard of Dillard Construction, one of the 401 Building owners.

“I am very pleased with the quality of our tenant roster,” said Larry Armour of Armour Commercial Real Estate, another 401 Building owners. “Having such valuable tenants is a validation of the 401 Building’s reputation as one of the most attractive downtown buildings, both physically and with the conveniences we provide. This is the only building in the area that has undergone a complete multimillion-dollar renovation, which transformed it into one of the safest, most secure and technologically advanced structures downtown.”

Mr. Armour said the building is now over 60 percent leased. He said this time last year, it was only 12 percent leased.

Shared Health is taking half of the fourth floor and PlayCore has almost half of the third floor.

For more information about the 401 Building, visit www.401building.com.