Consumer insurance giant Geico plans to create a customer service center in Carmel that will bring up to 1,200 jobs to the city.

Gov. Mike Pence and Geico Chairman Tony Nicely announced the plans at a press conference Monday at 101 W. 103rd St., the site of the planned center. Geico will lease 109,000 square feet of space in a 320,000-square-foot building that is part of the Carmel campus for Technicolor USA Inc.

The new office, which is expected to open by late April, will house insurance agents, training and supervisory teams, and other management and support staff. The Washington, D.C.-based auto insurer, which currently employs about 27,000 associates across the country, plans to begin hiring immediately, according to the Indiana Econopmic Development Corp.

IBJ first reported details of the deal on Monday morning.

"We chose central Indiana because we know there is a talented and well educated workforce in this area, and we want to offer people long-term career opportunities as we continue to expand," Nicely said in prepared comments.

The company will invest millions of dollars to lease, renovate and equip the center, according to the IEDC. A more specific figure was not immediately available.

Geico is a wholly owned subsidiary of Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which ranks seventh on the recent Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies. Geico is the third-largest private passenger auto insurance company in the United States, serving more than 11 million auto policies and covering more than 18 million vehicles.

The IEDC offered Geico up to $10 million in conditional tax credits and up to $400,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company must hire workers to be eligible for the incentives.

The announcement comes on the same day that the Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported that the state's unemployment rate rose 0.3 of a percentage point, to 8.6 percent, in January.

With the addition of Geico, the North Meridian Street corridor in Hamilton County is becoming an epicenter for major insurance firms. Public company CNO Financial Group., with a market capitalization of roughly $2.5 billion, is headquartered at 11825 N. Pennsylvania St., a stone’s throw from Meridian Street.

Baldwin & Lyons Inc. announced earlier this month that it would move its headquarters from downtown Indianapolis to 111 Congressional Blvd. in Carmel.

In addition, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. maintains a significant office presence at 350 E. 96th St.

Story first posted at 11:55 a.m. Updated at 1:30 p.m.