Fargo-based hotelier TMI Hospitality will buy a small parcel of the former State Farm complex in Woodbury and turn it into two hotels with 200 rooms combined, Kraus-Anderson Cos. confirmed Thursday.

Under the purchase agreement signed last week, TMI will buy six of the 100 acres that once made up the defunct State Farm campus near the corner of Interstate 94 and Radio Drive. TMI owns hundreds of hotels across the country under the Holiday Inn Express, AmericInn and 14 other brand names.

"We are thrilled to add this new Woodbury property to the TMI family of hotels," said TMI President Rick Larson. "TMI is proud to bring our 30-year hospitality experience to this exciting new development."

Officials have not disclosed the names of the two new hotel buildings, which still need to be approved by the Woodbury City Council.

If approved by the city as expected in July, Kraus-Anderson and its partner, Florida-based developer Elion Partners, will sell and prepare two pads of land for TMI by October. TMI will then convert the "pads" into two fully fleshed hotels, said Kraus-Anderson Real Estate Development Director Matt Alexander on Thursday.

The hotels are the first phase of a much larger project planned for the entire 100 acre complex that State Farm vacated a decade ago.

In addition to selling the six-acre hotel site, Kraus-Anderson and Elion also will convert the remaining 94 acres into a mixed-use development that includes medical office buildings, shops, restaurants and other office space. The site, which includes about 25 acres of wetlands, 46 acres of empty land and a single 30-acre State Farm office building, was recently renamed City Place.

In October, Alexander and Juan DeAngulo from Elion Partners unveiled renderings for how their companies planned to convert the property. At that meeting, which took place in State Farm's former cafeteria, drawings included plans for retail and commercial space as well as an upscale hotel with 180 guest rooms. "Those were the plans then. They have changed," Alexander said.

If all goes as planned, Kraus-Anderson and Elion will soon announce a new lease agreement for a 40,000-square-foot grocery store. That agreement could come in the next 60 days, Alexander said.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725