A Portland-based software firm is moving its Wilmington operation downtown.

Viewpoint Construction Software will soon relocate from the Ripa Office Park near the University of North Carolina Wilmington to roughly 1,800 square feet of office space at 228 N. Front St., Suite 301. 

Josh Wright, product manager of content management for the firm, said Wednesday the division hoped to move into the space by early April.

Viewpoint Construction Software in May acquired Rocky Mount-based Construction Imaging, which has operated a Wilmington division since 2004.

Construction Imaging makes software to manage construction documents and the data they contain. It has been integrated with the Viewpoint suite of construction software for several years. 

Viewpoint Construction Software, which reported a 48-percent hike in company-wide growth last year, operates divisions throughout the U.S., including offices in Portland, Charlotte, Rocky Mount, Wilmington and metro Tampa, Fla. The firm also operates and conducts business in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Local architect and broker J. Clark Hipp of Wilmington-based HMS Properties Inc. represented the landlord during the long-term lease transaction for an undisclosed amount.

Wright said since being acquired by Viewpoint last year, officials with the Wilmington division have appealed to company officials to move its seven employees downtown.

“We’ve been looking to move offices for better space that fits with our collaborative culture,” he said. “We have a good team, and it makes good since to keep us here.”

Viewpoint’s lease transaction represents the fourth new tenant Hipp has secured for his downtown properties this month.

Wilmington-based American Capital Wealth Management Inc., a full-service financial planning firm geared toward retirees, and Wilmington-based Blue Label Hosting, a web and cloud solution company geared toward businesses conglomeration, recently leased executive suite space at 228 N. Front St.

And Salt, a new arts and culture magazine, will soon occupy 1,000 square feet of office space in the old Bullock Hospital building at 221 N. Front St., Suite 201.