Artist rendering of the completed federal building

TAMPA - Construction of a one-story, 42,282-square-foot federal building near Tampa International Airport began May 16 with a ceremonial groundbreaking.

Tampa has no other office construction at this time, reports from real estate firms say.

The Tampa field office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, currently on West Cypress Street, will move to 5629 Hoover Blvd., between Anderson and Benjamin roads just north of Hillsborough Avenue.

A smaller, 7,520-square-foot building also is being constructed on the 6.5-acre site for office and retail leases complementary to the federal agency, such as immigration attorneys, photographers and cafés. Lease spaces will start at 850 square feet.

Procacci Development Corp. of Boca Raton designed the main building to withstand storms and achieve LEED Silver Certification to reduce energy consumption. Procacci has built U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings in Orlando and Fort Myers.

Procacci will spend $10 million to build the building. The General Service Administration said the government would pay annual rent of $1,733,562, or $41 per square foot over a 15-year lease.

Procacci said the project would be completed the first quarter of 2012.