GRAND FORKS – AgCountry Farm Credit Services, a Fargo-based loan agency, has detailed its plans for a new office building in Grand Forks.
The roughly 16,000-square-foot building will be big enough for about 40 staff members, "as well as a designated area for informational, educational and community meetings," AgCountry's Assistant Vice President of Marketing Communications Eric Vinje wrote in an email.
Icon Architectural Group is designing the single-story building.
AgCountry, which provides credit and financial services, hopes to begin construction next month and finish in summer 2016. The company will move out of its building at 2424 32nd Ave. S., Grand Forks, once the new facility is finished, Vinje wrote.
The 3.2 acre lot AgCountry's building will sit on is part of a larger development hugging the west side of Interstate 29 on the north side of 32nd Avenue South. The Heartland West Addition has seven other lots available for commercial, professional or retail businesses, Vinje wrote.
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The lots vary in size from .9 acre to 6.3 acres. Construction on road access and utilities will begin in the next few weeks.
AgCountry purchased the land last year "due to its excellent access and visibility from Interstate 29," Vinje wrote.
"However, the parcel that was made available for sale included more land than we needed for our own project," he added. "By selling the excess property, we can achieve some cost recovery while at the same time hopefully helping out the city."
The Heartland project extends commercial development west on 32nd Avenue, home to Grand Forks' main commercial strip. Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the Chamber Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, said "there's no question" development will continue on the west side of the interstate.
"You can only go south so far," he said.
