MDU Resources Group Inc. has plans to build two new office buildings in northwest Bismarck - including its corporate office - and turn the area into a corporate campus.

The plan is for the new buildings to be up and ready by the end of 2005.

One of the buildings will be for MDU Resources corporate headquarters and a training center, and the other for Knife River Corp. headquarters. Knife River is an MDU Resources Group subsidiary.

The campus would be located along Century Avenue, adjacent to the Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline office building, another MDU Resources subsidiary. MDU owns about 17 acres in that area. One of the new buildings will be located just north of WBI and the other just east of WBI.

"MDU Resources and its subsidiaries have experienced dramatic growth in recent years," said Martin White, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of MDU Resources. "The buildings that house both our corporate office and those of Knife River are feeling the result of that growth and cannot meet our future needs. Moving to a campus plan fits well with our long-range plans and will allow us flexibility, while providing for interaction between staff at our various operating companies."

MDU Resources' corporate office is currently located at 918 E. Divide Ave. and Knife River is located at 1915 N. Kavaney Drive. The company would like to sell those buildings before building at the new location, but it's not a determining factor.

"If we find absolutely no interest in the old buildings, then we'll find Plan B," said Cathi Christopherson, vice president of corporate communications.

The plan is for the West Century location to become a corporate campus for MDU Resources and its primary business units, which include Knife River Corp., Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Utility Services Inc., WBI Holdings Inc. and Centennial Energy. The business units are now located at multiple locations throughout the Bismarck area.

"While we have no plans to move the offices of Montana-Dakota or Utility Services in the near future, we have made allowances in our overall plan for moving those offices in the future," said White. "We are anxious to proceed with our building plans; however, the plans are not only dependent upon our ability to sell our current facilities at a reasonable price and under the right time conditions, but also on the economy and the continuing success of our operations."

Centennial Energy will move to one of the new buildings. The other MDU services will remain at current locations, such as the service center at the corner of Bismarck Expressway and Airport Road, and the regional office at 122 E. Broadway Ave.

Dick Espeland, who recently announced his retirement as vice president of human resources, will be retained as director of special projects. Espeland's primary responsibility will be to assist with the overall planning, detailed design, bidding and construction of the two buildings at the corporate campus location.

Bill Daniel, a real estate agent with Lahr & Lahr Real Estate, has been retained to market and sell the current corporate office building and the Knife River building.

(Reach reporter Mark Hanson at 250-8264 or mark.hanson@bismarcktribune.com.)