REDMOND — Several employees of T-Mobile’s soon-to-shutter Redmond customer support call center will be back to work in the same building just weeks after the closure.

Oregon-based Consumer Cellular announced Wednesday it is working on a lease agreement for the T-Mobile building and hopes to open a call center of its own Aug. 1. T-Mobile announced in March it will close its Redmond call center in June as part of a nationwide corporate reduction.

John Marick, Consumer Cellular co-founder and CEO, said the center will employ between 50 and 75 people upon opening its doors and intends to grow to 300 employees in the next 18 months. Marick believes several of those workers will be former T-Mobile employees.

“(T-Mobile) have been very good about getting us in there to interview and meeting employees,” Marick said. “For the people who want to stay in Central Oregon … it’s a great opportunity.”

Portland-based Consumer Cellular operates two other call centers, one in Portland and one in Phoenix. The company uses AT&T’s cellular network but provides cellular service without set plans.

Marick said the company caters to an older demographic and has seen “explosive growth” in the past few years after working with AARP to provide cellular service for its members.

Consumer Cellular has around 850,000 customers and expects to reach 1 million in the next year. Marick said the company was expecting to open a new call center soon as a result of its growth, and moved “fast and furiously” on the Redmond facility when it heard it was available.

Marick also said he sees the call center reaching 650 employees within three years. That more than doubles the company’s current workforce of 550.

“We wouldn’t take that facility if we didn’t plan on filling it up,” he said.

The company is likely to benefit from a lucrative package of economic incentives the city of Redmond provides to prospective employers.

Jon Stark, director of Redmond Economic Development Inc., said no agreements are in place but “we do anticipate they will take advantage of the incentives provided in the enterprise zone.”

Incentives include property tax breaks for providing a certain number of jobs and utility cuts on certain types of developments.

“Because this is happening before the closure, the community never had to take that blow,” Stark said.

T-Mobile’s Redmond call center employed about 850 people in 2010, but the company reduced jobs over the past two years. At the start of 2012, T-Mobile employed about 360.

“I think we are starting to see a turnaround in Redmond,” Mayor George Endicott said. “Even with this situation we had several potential call centers approach us. There is interest here.”

Stark confirmed that, saying at this time last year he was following leads to bring between 200 to 300 jobs.

“Looking at the companies we are working with today, that number is closer to 1,800,” Stark said.

Earlier this month the City Council and its budget committee recommitted to Stark and his efforts with REDI by sending $100,000 to the organization. That doubles the city’s current contribution and comes with the expectation that REDI can increase its efforts to bring new jobs to Redmond.

Endicott has said that Redmond has a goal of creating 10,000 new jobs by 2030.