Minneapolis-based accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) will soon have a new home after it announced Tuesday it signed a long-term lease at the Viking Lakes Innovation Center in Eagan.

The 16-year lease includes roughly 40,000 square feet of office space on the Viking Lakes campus, which CLA plans to use as a connection center for its members across the country, according to a statement from the firm. Local and national designers RSP Architects and ICRAVE will build the space before it opens next year.

According to CLA chief culture officer Cathy Clarke, the firm’s $10 million investment into the new location will help the firm better support and train its staff.

“CLA is beyond excited to take this important step in investing in our people through learning, training, and development at a true destination location like Viking Lakes,” Clarke said. “Viking Lakes is not only one of the most comprehensive training facilities in the country, but also well-suited to helping CLA grow and retain the firm’s talent.”

With the addition of CLA, the 60,000-square-foot Innovation Center is now nearly full, having only one 6,000-square-foot commercial space available.

Although the building is Viking Lakes’ first commercial office building, the wider, 200-acre multi-purpose campus is far from full. Twelve developments comprising more than 300,000 square feet of commercial and medical space have been completed since the facility’s groundbreaking eight years ago. Viking Lakes is also home to tenants like Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training Haus, the Minnesota Vikings Museum, as well as an upscale hotel and more than 450 apartment units.

The diverse set of tenants is a result of Viking Lakes approval for various spaces, including commercial space, housing, retail, restaurant, and entertainment outlets. In a statement, Mark Wilf, co-owner of the Minnesota Vikings and the real estate agency behind Viking Lakes, said its newest addition will become part of a larger business community on campus.

“CLA is a well-known, well-respected firm not just in Minnesota but across the United States,” Wilf said. “The organization’s commitment to create a connection center on the Viking Lakes campus that allows their talent to ideate, learn, and develop as professionals is a significant testament to what we are building in Eagan.”

Since Milwaukee-based Clifton Grunderson LLP and Minneapolis-based LarsonAllen LLP merged in 2012, CLA is now the eighth largest in the country with more than 130 offices nationwide.

The firm that has called Minnesota home for more than a decade will maintain its office in downtown Minneapolis. However, CLA CEO Jen Leary said the move signifies the firm’s commitment to growing its roots in the state.

“CLA has a long and deep history in Minnesota, so investing in this connection center in Viking Lakes is a natural extension of our commitment to this area,” Leary said. “We are thrilled to be taking this step and we cannot wait to welcome our clients and our people to this spectacular setting.”