CHS buys back its headquarters building in Inver Grove Heights

CHS Inc. once again owns the Inver Grove Heights headquarters building that has been its home for decades.

Agricultural cooperative CHS paid $48.7 million in cash to a subsidiary of Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks, which bought the corporate campus in 2017 for $55 million, according to state records.

"CHS continues to invest in providing a leading office environment for our employees, and the decision to reacquire the headquarters site aligns with this objective," a CHS spokesperson said Tuesday. "The purchase made financial sense for CHS, given the company's long-term commitment to the headquarters site, the city of Inver Grove Heights and the surrounding Twin Cities community."

The initial sale of the 24-acre property at 550 Cenex Drive included a 20-year lease for CHS to remain as a tenant, and it occurred several months after CEO Jay Debertin was hired.

CHS is in talks with Illinois-based ag cooperative Growmark that could lead to a merger. The building purchase could help ease concerns that such a move might rob the Twin Cities of a Fortune 500 headquarters.

The firm has spent nearly a decade renovating the 340,000-square-foot office to create "a more collaborative work environment for staff to serve member-owners and reflect the judicious approach that their audience, many of them farmers, take in their own business practices," according to the co-op's commercial architect partner, BWBR.

CHS is by far the largest employer in Inver Grove Heights and has 1,100 employees at its headquarters. The company offers a mix of in-person, remote and hybrid work arrangements.

The cooperative connects agricultural goods to consumers around the world and had $45.6 billion in revenue last year.