EVERETT — The Snohomish County Public Utility District is in talks to buy a church in South Everett and convert it into office space to accommodate its growing workforce.

The PUD expects to pay the current property owner, Canyon Creek Church, $5.5 million for the property, staff told the district’s publicly elected commissioners during a meeting Tuesday.

The building, which district officials dubbed the 75th Street Business Center, is at 1122 75th St. S.W., near the Boeing Co.’s factory.

Moving costs would be $1.5 million and tenant improvements would cost another $4.8 million over six years. Operation and maintenance costs are expected to be up to $250,000 a year. That puts the total price tag for that option at $13.47 million by 2023, according to district staff’s presentation.

The property’s assessed value is nearly $4.95 million, according to Snohomish County property records.

The PUD considered buying an office building on Hewitt Avenue near its headquarters by downtown Everett, an option expected to cost $8.4 million by 2023. While cheaper overall, it would have been more expensive per square foot and would have space for at most 35 employees. That is half of how many are expected to fit in the 75th Street building.

While it most recently was a church, the building began as offices for another utility in 1994. Puget Sound Energy sold it for $3.8 million in 2005 to Nathanael Wolf Ministries, according to property records.

The property was sold to its current owner in 2011 for $3.975 million.

Canyon Creek Church no longer holds services at 75th Street property, according to its website. Church officials could not be reached for comment.

The church’s main location is in Mill Creek. It bought that land for $2.1 million in 2015 from Faith Fellowship Baptist Church, according to property records.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.