The Lone Star College System will sell about 3.5 acres of its administrative campus to the Houston Area Research Center for a new building.

Because of rapid growth, the college needs the 60,000 square foot building that is currently occupied by HARC at its Central Services and Training Center in The Woodlands.

HARC originally sold its site to the college to establish the administrative offices and, as part of that contract, the college agreed to sell the agency up to seven acre back in the future.

The chancellor will negotiate the sale. The fair market value of the land is $800,000.

With a 30 percent increase in enrollment this year, the Lone Star College System was forced to move staff from its central operations at Shadowbend and Research Forest.

Among the departments that moved to the new University Park were LSC Online, Automated Library Services, Community Outreach, Financial Aid, Student Information Services and Facilities Planning and Construction.

The building which HARC currently occupies with be turned into meeting space, said Cindy Gilliam, vice chancellor of administration and finance and chief financial officer for the Lone Star College System.