5600 Camerata Way, St. Louis Park

Type: Rental apartments, townhouses

New units: 122

Developer: Dunbar Development Corp.

The oft-delayed final two buildings of the Hoigaard Village housing redevelopment in St. Louis Park are on again, thanks to the booming multifamily rental market and a revised agreement with the city.

The 416-unit project was started in 2006 at the old site of Hoigaard's ski shop along Hwy. 100. Its two earlier buildings are the 74-unit Harmony Vista apartments, with 25,000 square feet of first-floor retail space, and the 220-unit Camerata building.

But owner Dunbar Development's efforts to finish two other planned elements on the seven-acre site next to the planned Southwest Corridor light-rail line have been delayed because of changing market and financial conditions -- requiring amendments to the company's redevelopment contract with the city.

The two new buildings are a 22-unit townhouse structure called Medley Row and the 100-unit Adagio apartments.

The St. Louis Park Economic Development Authority this month OK'ed the latest version of the redevelopment contract, which lets Dunbar offer for-sale Medley Row townhouse units to renters, tapping the surging apartment market. Part of the agreement states that the developer will try to find buyers for the townhouses when the for-sale housing market improves.

The company also agreed to alter the mix of unit types in the Adagio, which was also once planned as condominiums.

The new plan unanimously approved Feb. 6 will de-emphasize studio apartments in favor of "larger" units, defined as one-bedroom-plus-den and bigger.

The economic development authority also approved two "pay-as-you-go" tax increment financing notes totaling $1 million to help cover the developer's costs with the two new buildings. They are payable upon completion of the foundation work.

New deadlines for the final two phases were also established, under which construction is to start in July and be completed by the end of 2013.

Dunbar Development's Frank Dunbar declined to comment for this article.

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