A Chelsea site has been chosen as the Alabama Congressional District Six headquarters for the 2010 census.

The census office will occupy 7,000 square feet of a 20,000-square-foot building in the new Creek Crossing at Chelsea shopping center, located at the corner of Chesser Crane Road and County Road 47.

Glenn Ponder of Ponder Properties, the leasing company, said he was informed Wednesday that the U.S. Census Bureau had chosen the Chelsea site. He will meet with census authorities next week to review and sign the lease. The lease will be for 12 months, with the option to extend it by six months if the Census Bureau wishes.

Ponder said the site will open August 17 and will have 55-65 employees. He said he expects most of those employees to be hired locally.

“I’m sure they’ll bring in people from Atlanta, but they’ll be looking to hire locally,” he said. “Those people will be dining in (Chelsea) restaurants, shopping in their stores.”

Ponder said his company is talking to potential other tenants for the remaining space in the building.

Other potential businesses for the space include a pizza restaurant, insurance agency, nail and hair salons, a formal restaurant, a church, a children’s clothing store, attorneys’ offices and medical offices.