A rare plot of city woods could remain wild if its owner accepts an offer for the land.

That owner is the city of Minneapolis, which has held title to the 15-acre parcel straddling the border of neighboring Edina and St. Louis Park since the 1920s. The two cities recently offered Minneapolis $1.074 million for the land at 3940 France Av. S., which serves as an informal — but very popular — dog park for residents of the surrounding area.

"As a result of the neighborhood meetings and other input we have received … and the long history of public ownership of this parcel, it is clear that the use of the property should continue as it is today," St. Louis Park Mayor Jeff Jacobs and Edina Mayor Jim Hovland wrote in a Dec. 19 letter to Minneapolis officials with the purchase offer.

The offer is the midpoint between a Minneapolis appraisal of $1.458 million, assuming residential development of the site, and recent appraisals by Edina and St. Louis Park indicating a value of $690,000 if the site is left as park and open space. The land is two-thirds in Edina and one-third in St. Louis Park; the cities would split the payment proportionally.

The land has long been the site of a Minneapolis water-pumping station, but recent improvements to the city's water system have rendered it obsolete. The city has repeatedly said it would insist on full market value for the land.

Minneapolis officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday.

John Reinan