(KTRS) – In a big win for the city of St. Louis, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency appears ready to build a new regional headquarters in north St. Louis.

NGA Director Robert Cardillo is expected to formally announce the decision Friday. This means the NGA’s 3,100 employees will continue to pay the city’s earnings tax, a total of more than $2 million a year. The $1.75 billion facility could serve as a jumpstart to revitalization projects in north St. Louis.

The city’s main competition for the project was St. Clair County, where the NGA was offered free land for the complex.

The decision still faces a public comment period and is not considered final until June.