Shakopee Town Square

Richfield-based Minnesota School of Business and Globe College plans to build schools in Shakopee, Rochester and St. Cloud.

The Shakopee campus that could eventually support 1,200 students will be the first to open. The school plans to purchase a 100,000-square-foot portion of an enclosed mall — the 220,000-square-foot Shakopee Town Square, which includes retailers, a Marcus Theater and a vacant Kmart. Minnetonka-based Carlson Real Estate Co. hired Bloomington-based Welsh Cos. in November to sell the mall.

The Minnesota School of Business is a career-oriented college offering an MBA, and associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in areas including accounting, business administration and computer networking. The firm has been growing by starting suburban campuses that are convenient for adult learners, said Mike Hughes, campus director of The Minnesota School of Business Shakopee Campus.

The school will open a 27,000-square-foot campus in the vacant Kmart building this fall, said Hughes. The school will manage the mall and doesn’t plan any major changes, Hughes said. The school is expected to close on the mall April 15.

The school chose Shakopee because it is a growing community, Hughes said. The school had considered putting a campus in Lakeville but dropped that idea. However, it has secured land for a campus in St. Cloud and is looking for a site in Rochester, he said.

This isn’t the first time that the school has located in a mall. In August of 2002, it bought a 72,000-square-foot strip mall in Plymouth for $6 million that is now the Minnesota School of Business in Plymouth. Other campuses are in Richfield and Brooklyn Center. Globe College is in Oakdale.