Type: Rental apartments

Units: Approximately 68

Developer: Melrose Co.

Architect: ESG Architects

Details: A developer with a successful track record in St. Louis Park bought two vacant properties along Interstate 394 to build about 68 units of townhome-style apartments.

Bob Cunningham, who was a principal with TOLD Development when that company built the signature Excelsior & Grand mixed-use project along Excelsior Blvd., now heads Shorewood-based Melrose Co. and is floating plans for apartments on the two sites — one along 13th Lane W., south of Wayzata Boulevard, and another at the frontage road's intersection with Texas Avenue S.

Cunningham's company purchased the city-owned parcels for $485,000 last month, according to Hennepin County records. The city acquired them in June from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. They were originally land remnants created by MnDOT during the construction of Interstate 394 in the 1980s.

City planners say Melrose is seeking to construct two buildings on each site. They will be known as Arlington Row East and West. The developer is proceeding with the Texas Avenue S. site first (Arlington Row West), a pair of three-story buildings of 17 units each, including off-street surface parking, new landscaping and a new sidewalk.

The other site on 13th Lane is planned for 34 units. That parcel has been the subject of various inquires for commercial and medical office projects. The city rejected them in hopes of a multifamily residential development.

Don Jacobson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.