Rah-rah sis-boom-bah! Chaska may be landing a college campus.

According to Chaska City Administrator David Pokorney, a business called Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center has an option to purchase 35 acres of land at the southwest corner of Engler Boulevard and new Highway 212 where it hopes to build a college campus.

After a year of scouting, the decision to locate the campus in Chaska was made last month. Mayor Gary Van Eyll publically announced the group's intentions during his State of the City of Chaska address Wednesday afternoon.

The Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center touts itself as a new type of college campus. “This will be a new model of how to create college infrastructure,” said Pokorney.

“EdCampus Twin Cities,” as it is being called, will “leverage the power of combining dynamic students from diverse institutions, backgrounds and disciplines into a single campus – outfitted with the best available technology, customizable classroom space, and student-centric services,” according to promotional material.

The idea is to create satellite learning environments for a variety of higher education institutions. The Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center will construct the buildings and then lease the space out to interested parties.

“They’ll be from Minnesota and across the country,” said Pokorney. “They want to have a real national presence.”

The project is estimated to cost $88 million to build. It would include 125 “custom classroom environments” spread across 225,000 square feet. An additional 115,000 square feet would provide space for student services, retail, corporate training spaces, lecture space and administrative offices.

“It will have everything a college campus would have,” said Pokorney. “But no football team.”

When complete, EdCampus could serve up to 6,500 students in addition to employing 200 professional and support staff. It is estimated that EdCampus could bring in nearly $100 million in annual revenues.

EdCampus would offer two-year, four-year and post-graduate degree programs. It would also provide opportunities for continuing education and corporate training.

Pokorney said the campus could be a great attraction for the bioTech Center. “If this happens, this is really significant for the area,” he said. “It will create a corporate image.”

EdCampus will also include national sponsors like Phillips Electric and Armstrong Flooring, Pokorney said.

In addition, the Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center is planning for cutting edge building technologies and “advanced green space development.”

“They talk about being very green,” said Pokorney. “It will be interesting to see.”

The city is still working with the Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center on detailed site plans, but they will need approval from both Chaska’s Planning Commission and City Council before any construction can begin. According to Pokorney, the group hopes to break ground by late this year.

Metropolitan Lifelong Learning Center is planning a formal announcement on the project later this spring.

To complement the site, Pokorney is hopeful that Southwest Transit, which recently received an $8 million grant for a structured Park and Ride, will locate it adjacent to the campus. The transit center would be similar to Eden Prairie’s Southwest Station and could contain up to 1,000 parking stalls which would be shared among commuters and students.

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer 

TELL US: What do you think about this new college model? What do you think EdCampus should contain?