CEDAR FALLS -- All the years Russ Wasendorf has been running his Chicago-headquartered international financial brokerage, he has been living in the Cedar Falls area.

Now he wants to move the headquarters of Peregrine Financial Group -- the 30th largest non-bank financial firm in the U.S. with 240 offices in 25 countries -- from its LaSalle Street office in downtown Chicago to a plot of land currently owned by Beaver Hills Country Club.

If his potential neighbors will have him, that is.

"To be real honest, I'm just an Iowa guy. I grew up in Iowa, I like Iowa, and I would like to have other people enjoy what I enjoy," Wasendorf said.

"And if I'm not wanted in the area, I guess I go look somewhere else."

Wasendorf is the sole shareholder in Peregrine Financial Group, Wasendorf & Son Company and Wasendorf & Associates Inc. The latter two have offices on Cedar Heights Drive in Cedar Falls.

Wasendorf's plan is to build a three-story "green," or environmentally friendly, building just north of the country club, then move 65-70 of his employees from Chicago to Iowa to work in it. He would also move his 35 employees from the Cedar Falls area to the new building.

He has made an offer of $1.3 million for about 22.4 acres of the country club's land, which the country club's members accepted, 138-12, on Feb. 27. The sale is pending rezoning approval from the Black Hawk County Planning & Zoning Commission.

The building Wasendorf proposes building would be three stories of concrete, steel and mirrored glass to reflect the natural environment. It would include a day-care center, fitness center, restaurant and convenience store for employees.

It also would be a "green" building, exceeding greenhouse gas emissions standards set in the Kyoto Protocol. It would use geothermal and solar-assisted heating and air conditioning, high efficient tankless water heaters and a nonpolluting digester system to handle waste.

"We are shooting for zero emissions of greenhouse gases," Wasendorf said in his proposal.

The building would be 30,000-50,000 square feet. Wasendorf estimates the cost of the project at around $8 million.

Wasendorf said he started working on a design for the building after he started looking at building at the Beaver Hills area. Long an advocate for environmental and conservation causes, Wasendorf said, he didn't want to disrupt any of that with the new office.

"A unique site demands a unique building. A unique building demands a unique site," Wasendorf said.

"The building design that I'm looking for is a very very rare design for the state of Iowa."

Mark Rolinger, a country club member who acted as its attorney in negotiations over the land sale, said the design of Wasendorf's building was key in the membership approving the sale.

"One of the very important issues of the country club was to not disrupt the very pastoral atmosphere out there," Rolinger said. "The whole design, that whole purpose, is to maintain that wooded look that already exists. And I think that's why the members were willing to approve it and approved it as resoundingly as they did."

Scott Cawelti, a University of Northern Iowa professor who lives on Beaver Ridge Circle, about a half-mile from the proposed building site, said he is "on the fence" about the project, but leaning toward supporting it.

"He's actually building a building which, if it is what he says it is, could actually be pretty good," Cawelti said.

Not all Wasendorf's potential neighbors support it, however. Cawelti said some neighbors raised pointed objections to Wasendorf's plan at a meeting with him at the Cedar Falls Public Library on Saturday morning.

Wasendorf said he wants to be a good neighbor, and the move would mean economic benefits for the Cedar Valley. His business would require services, such as IT support and software design, Wasendorf said. The move would also bring dozens of highly paid -- the average executive salary is close to $200,000 a year -- and philanthropic-minded people to the area.

To better convince his Chicago people to move to the Cedar Valley, Wasendorf plans to offer daily transportation to and from the Windy City.

"We're looking at everything from private jet to starting an airline," Wasendorf said. "But we will resolve that issue. That issue can be resolved, and it's just an issue of throwing money at it."

"Obviously we're excited," said Bob Seymore, economic development manager for Cedar Falls. "We like to see any of those financial-type projects move in anywhere in the county."

Struxture Architects, acting on behalf of the country club, filed for the zoning change with the Black Hawk County Planning & Zoning Commission, said Aric Schroeder, the county zoning administrator. The application seeks to rezone 6.6 acres of the land from agricultural to light commercial.

The planning and zoning commission is scheduled to consider the application March 20, and it could go before the Board of Supervisors a month later, Schroeder said. But he warned it could be tabled because the site plan isn't complete.

Wasendorf said he would like to be able to start construction by the end of this year or early 2008. He said his company has to find new offices by October 2009, when the lease on its Chicago headquarters expires.

Wasendorf said one of the reasons he is considering the move is because his company hires a lot of college graduates from Iowa, and he is concerned about the outward migration of young people from the state. He would like to reverse the trend of people leaving Iowa for jobs in places like Chicago, by bringing jobs from Chicago to Iowa.

"In our industry we're a bit of a thought leader, and if we pull this off, other companies are going to think about it," Wasendorf said. "I'm not going to say that it would start a trend, but certainly it would be one step in that direction."

Staff writer Jon Ericson contributed to this article.

Contact Jeff Wilford at (319) 291-1423 or jeff.wilford@wcfcourier.com.