Southwest West Central Service Cooperative, an agency serving schools across an 18-county region, is planning to build a new office building in Marshall. The new office would replace the cooperative’s current office space in the Market Street Mall, shown here.

MARSHALL — A regional education services cooperative is now a step closer to constructing a new office building in Marshall. On Tuesday, Marshall City Council members approved a pre-development agreement with the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative (SWWC) for a piece of city-owned land.

“I think it’s a good use of that property,” said council member Craig Schafer.

SWWC serves more than 50,000 public and private school students across an 18-county area, said SWWC executive director Cliff Carmody. The cooperative employs 459 people across its service area. About 52 employees would work in the proposed office building in Marshall.

SWWC is proposing to build a 16,000 square-foot facility on five acres of land at the corner of London Road and Channel Parkway in Marshall. Marshall Economic Development Authority director Lauren Deutz said the EDA had been working with SWWC for several years to find a new place for their administrative offices.

“They’re currently located in the (Market Street) mall,” Deutz said. “Their lease has expired. The building itself needs improvements. So, we’ve kind of explored a few options – redevelopment options, new builds – and we have selected to potentially build a new office facility for them on city-owned land.”

Deutz said the EDA was bringing forward a pre-development agreement, which would give SWWC the land for $1, and allow them to use conduit bond financing for the project.

Architect Gary Hay shared the site and floor plans for the proposed office.

“The building is designed to be a hybrid office environment,” Hay said. “We are accommodating all 52 employees on the site at this point, but we also have some large training and conference spaces.”

Hay said they planned to finalize building designs and cost plans in December, and start construction in the spring. “We hope to occupy the building in July of 2025,” he said.

“Now, this won’t generate tax revenue?” Schafer asked about the arrangement.

“Correct,” said Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson. SWWC is a public organization, and is defined as a school district by the state of Minnesota. But although the agreement with the cooperative wouldn’t generate taxes for the city, the agreement would still be an investment in Marshall, Hanson said.

“A really good investment in Marshall is 52 employees, committing to having them come to the city or be part of the city on a daily basis,” she said. “I kind of see this as a public entity helping out another public entity.”

Meetings and conferences at the SWWC offices would also bring a lot of people into town, said council member James Lozinski. “I think it’s a very good fit.”

Council members voted to approve the pre-development agreement with SWWC.