The transformation of an oil company tank farm into a mixed-use urban village near St. Paul's W. 7th Street appears about to take another step forward with plans for a new five-story apartment building.

Burnsville-based Chase Real Estate, fresh off the August completion of 215 market-rate rental units in the Victoria Park village, this month officially introduced plans for a 193-unit second phase of its Victoria Park Apartments, targeted for a city-owned seven-acre parcel along the Mississippi River bluffs.

The first phase, consisting of a pair of three-story townhouse buildings, has quickly been leased, developer Andy Chase said, giving him the confidence to begin the site plan approval process for the next batch of market-rate units.

"What makes this such a great site is that it's urban, but it feels more suburban because you don't have all the traffic that you get when you go downtown," he said. "There are parks and trails and the river. It's got everything you need right there."

Chase said that, like the first phase, rent for the new units will be moderately priced to provide an alternative to the top-dollar product in the two downtowns. Yet they will still include amenities such as a fitness room with yoga space, a club room, underground parking and bike storage.

The vision of a quiet, secluded but sizable site perched atop the river bluffs just four miles from downtown St. Paul has fired the imaginations of builders ever since the late 1990s, when plans first emerged to redevelop the 65-acre former Exxon/Mobil tank farm and the adjoining Koch/Flint Hills land off Otto Avenue and W. 7th.

Rendering of Victoria Park

Its proximity to major traffic arteries such as Interstate 35E and the Samuel Morgan Regional Trail along Shepard Road seemed to make it a natural for a new housing enclave.

An original vision for 650 units of apartments, condos and single-family homes advanced by Brighton Development Corp. in 2005 was derailed by a legal battle with Exxon/Mobil and the coming of the recession in 2008. Brighton was able to build only 12 townhouse units before that idea was abandoned. Since then, chunks of the site have been developed into the Shalom Home senior housing campus, a Mississippi Market food co-op and the Nova Classical Academy K-12 charter school.

But despite the poor timing of the original plan, the former brownfield is still proving to be alluring for housing developers, especially since the city and neighborhood groups earlier this year were able to hammer out a compromise plan on how to turn five acres of the site into a new $12 million city park.

To be called Victoria Park, the recreation area — expected to be developed incrementally as funding becomes available — would be directly adjacent to the Phase II apartments. Chase said his team and city officials have been working closely together to design the new building to fit in with those plans.

A key participant in the discussions has been the St. Paul Riverfront Corp., a nonprofit group that works to stimulate economic development along the Mississippi River corridor. Architect Tim Griffin, its director of urban design, said the Victoria Park Apartments are situated at an important point the site.

"The visual impact along Otto Avenue as you exit off Shepard Road is going to change greatly and become much more welcoming, and the corner where the apartments are will be a landmark entry point for the neighborhood," he said. "There's still a lot pf ongoing conversation about what the form of the corner will eventually take, and we're making sure we get it right."

The apartment proposal still must face scrutiny from neighbors — it will be discussed for the first time by the West 7th Street/Fort Road Federation on Monday — and must obtain a conditional-use permit to obtain its five-story height of 72 feet. Stormwater and parking concerns also still need to be ironed out.

Don Jacobson is a freelance writer in St. Paul and former editor of the Minnesota Real Estate Journal.