Northwestern announced Friday that it bought the former Methodist Pension Board building in Evanston.

The building at 1201 Davis St. will be used for administrative offices that were formerly housed on campus. Their relocation will open up spaces for other uses that have yet to be determined, according to Eugene Sunshine, NU’s senior vice president of business and finance.

“We bought it because undoubtedly, in the longer term, we will need more office space,” he said.

The property was owned by the Methodist Church, so it was already tax-exempt, Sunshine said, and the school took that into account when purchasing the building. All University-owned buildings are exempt from property taxes.

The Methodist Pension Board oversees retirement services for The United Methodist Church. It sold the building as part of its relocation to Glenview, Ill.

In the past 13 years, NU has purchased four properties. In 2009, the University bought the Seabury buildings, which were located on school property and, as religious buildings, were already tax-exempt. Previously, it took over an office building at 1800 Sherman Ave. and two private residences.