Landus Cooperative, Iowa's largest agricultural co-op, is considering moving its headquarters to downtown Des Moines from Ames, according to documents from the city.

The Des Moines City Council on Monday approved preliminary terms of a development agreement offering Landus a $250,000 forgivable loan to help fund its relocation. Final terms would be approved by the council in the coming months.

Landus is considering leasing 25,000 square feet in the recently completed Gray's Landing office building, 220 S.W. Ninth St., in order to consolidate its office space, city documents say. A spokesperson for Landus could not be reached for comment and it was not clear what will become of the Ames office in the Iowa State University Research Park.

The farmer-owned cooperative employs 600 people across 60 communities in Iowa and Minnesota. Its move to Des Moines would bring 65 existing jobs and add 25 new ones, according to the city, and add some variety to the business district, which is heavy on insurance and financial services businesses.

"They are pretty aggressive in the performance agriculture space, which is certainly a faction of the economy in downtown that we would love to grow," said Erin Olson-Douglas, Des Moines' development services director. "We already have some of the tech workers in the insurance space and we have the agriculture economy all around us in the state, so it's a great twist on diversifying downtown's economy, frankly."

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In a first-of-its-kind deal, Des Moines would require that Landus and its associates book 1,000 hotel rooms per year in exchange for the forgivable loan, which the city intends to pay out over five years.

Olson-Douglas said the deal was a way to tie financial incentives with the company's benefit to Des Moines. Visitors to Landus would shop, dine and recreate in Des Moines, pumping an estimated $1.4 million into the economy over five years, according to estimates from the city.

In turn, overnight guests would pay a 7% hotel-motel tax, which in Des Moines is split between the city's general fund, the tourism organization Catch Des Moines, and Bravo Greater Des Moines, which awards grants to central Iowa arts, cultural and heritage organizations.

"All of those overnight stays will bring restaurant activity, will bring cultural activity to the Farmers Market or the Science Center, and will bring people shopping in and around downtown," Olson-Douglas said. "The hotel stays are great, it helps the downtown hotel economy, but it creates this multiplier effect that we know happens with our restaurants and other businesses downtown."

Landus' Ames office is at 2321 North Loop Drive, near the airport. It recently announced a partnership with Google that will provide Landus' farmers with data-based insights and decisions. Landus also recently opened an Innovation Center in Ralston, northwest of Des Moines, where it connects farmers "to global innovation leaders to help drive a sustainable future in agriculture," according to the company's website.

Landus last year hired a new CEO, Matt Carstens, who had been senior vice president of Truterra, a division of Land O’Lakes, focusing on technology and data in agriculture.

If it moves to Des Moines, Landus would take up an entire floor of the Gray's Landing office building, which has an 1,100-square-foot conference room and a rooftop terrace. It's home to a Starbucks as well as offices for owner Sherman Associates, Paragon IT Professionals and Estes Construction.

Table 128 restaurant, moving from Clive, also plans to open on the first floor.

Gray's Landing is a 50-acre development located in the area generally between Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, Southwest Ninth Street, Southwest 16th Street and Tuttle Street. The first phase, in the eastern portion of the parcel, is home to a Holiday Inn Express, The Nexus at Gray's Landing and The Edge at Gray's Landing apartments, as well as a New Horizons Academy child care center.

Kim Norvell covers growth and development for the Register. Reach her at knorvell@dmreg.com or 515-284-8259. Follow her on Twitter @KimNorvellDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Landus Cooperative considering Des Moines headquarters