AutoOne makes inroads upstate

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Dec 13, 2002 by Bartlett, JoAnn

DEWITT - AutoOne, a year-old business specializing in writing auto insurance for the assigned-risk pool, has signed a lease for 22,000 square feet of space in Building VI at Widewaters Office Park, 5788 Widewaters Parkway in DeWitt.

The company plans to use the space for an auto-claims center. AutoOne, a subsidiary of OneBeacon, is located only in New York State, with its headquarters at Melville, Long Island. OneBeacon is a subsidiary of the White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., with headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

"We are very committed to Syracuse," says Carmen Duarte, vice president of corporate communications for OneBeacon. "We chose Syracuse because it is well situated in Central New York. We are really excited to be in Syracuse."

AutoOne has begun the hiring process and will hire about 75 people before an early January 2003 opening. The number of employees is expected to rise to 150 total by the end of 2003. The claims center will process only auto-insurance claims that are reported north of Westchester County, Duarte says.

In the third-quarter report of OneBeacon, Ray Barrette, chairman and chief executive officer of OneBeacon, says, "Although small, and helped by good weather and the hard market, we are beginning to see the results of the significant improvements we have been able to make in the last year and a half. Personal lines, including AutoOne, our New York personal automobile LAD (Limited Assignment Distribution) division, had a nice quarter. AutoOne is growing quickly."

Peter Finn and Phil Willard, both of CB Richard Ellis, were the brokers. The deal was completed with Charles Sangster, leasing director for the Widewaters Group. The Widewaters Office Park is comprised of 10 buildings offering approximately one million square feet, says Finn.