Three entities have coordinated a land swap in Rosemount, making way for the city's new police department and public works buildings.

When the south metro city needed 20 acres of land for its $58.5 million police department and public works project, the National Guard offered up a plot on Biscayne Avenue, just north of W. 145th Street. The land is valued between $1.5 million and $2 million, said City Administrator Logan Martin.

The new structure will consist of the two main buildings, which are connected, and an adjacent storage area. It will open in December 2024, Martin said.

The city, which broke ground on the project Thursday, had one condition to meet: It had to find the National Guard another 20 acres of land to replace the donated parcel.

The National Guard wants to maintain the same net acreage in the metro area, so any sale or transfer of property must come with the acquisition of property of equal area, Martin said.

The city went to Flint Hills Resources, which owns hundreds of acres near the Pine Bend oil refinery, to discuss options. Flint Hills found 20 acres of land along Akron Avenue, just north of the Flint Hills Athletic Complex, to donate to the city.

The city will close on the Flint Hills land donation in the coming weeks and then transfer that land over to the National Guard, Martin said.