Projo Biz Blog

JOHNSTON — The landlord for one of the world’s largest commercial property insurance companies has asked the town to stop the company from building a new headquarters on an adjacent parcel of land — at least for now.

PREFCO, also called CapLease, alleges that the town Planning Board violated local and state laws as part of an expedited approval process for insurer FM Global’s new four-story headquarters off Central Avenue.

“During the process, we were not afforded an opportunity to have an effective look at the project and voice public concerns,” Edward D. Pare, a lawyer for CapLease, said today in a telephone interview. He said his client might or might not have objections related to traffic congestion, stormwater runoff and flooding of the nearby Pocasset River, but that the company can’t tell until it has time to review the plans in detail.

Steven Zenofsky, a spokesman for FM Global, said yesterday that he is not aware of any problem with the project. “As far as we know, we’re in full compliance,” he said. “Every proper procedure that we’ve been told to follow, we have followed.”

Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena this evening defended his town’s actions in approving the project — and criticized CapLease.

“We followed the letter of the law completely. We did not break any of our ordinances,” he said. “We don’t do shortcuts.”

Polisena said CapLease is raising its objections because it is upset at losing a major tenant. “It’s obvious what they’re trying to do,” he said. “This is nothing more than an out-of-state company that’s crying sour grapes. For them to put the blame on the town, I just laugh. They’re really reaching.”

FM Global, a $4.5 billion company, is building a $60 million, 340,000-square-foot facility on 93 acres of a larger parcel it owns near the intersection of Central and Atwood Avenues. The company, founded in Rhode Island in 1835, employs 4,800 people worldwide, 870 of them in Rhode Island and 900 in Massachusetts. It ranks 578th on Fortune magazine’s list of the country’s largest companies.

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