Private buyers have made an offer to buy Kelly’s Depot Bar, a fixture on downtown St. Paul’s Kellogg Boulevard, and replace it with a seven-story apartment building. 

The city’s Heritage Preservation Commission will review the proposal from Jim LaValle and TJL Development on Oct. 4.  The site, at 241 E. Kellogg Blvd.,  sits across from Ramsey County’s Union Depot transit hub and within the Lowertown Historic District, a 16-block warehouse district. 

“One of the things I agreed to do was commemorate the history of the Kelly family,” said LaValle on Tuesday, who was unaware of the bar owners’ plans. “ I’m not sure if they are planning on continuing somewhere else.” 

A manager answering the phone at Kelly’s on Monday said she was unaware of the pending sale.  The 2,900 square feet of commercial space was listed for sale this summer through Edina Realty at $1.6 million. 

The seven-level apartment building proposed by Jim LaValle and TJL Development where Kelly’s Depot Bar is currently located: pic.twitter.com/SgLVhKgyBj — FredMelo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) September 25, 2018

LaValle said the property sale would be contingent on gaining city approval for an apartment building. 

Several neighboring Lowertown properties have been or are in the process of being developed, including the recently completed Oaks Union Depot, a 70-unit apartment building that occupies what had been a parking lot uphill from Kelly’s on Fourth Street.  Related Articles Pearl and the Thief is back, for now, and it’s worth the price of admission

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Also Tuesday, Minneapolis developer David Schall said the Jax building on Fourth Street would be converted into 48 market-rate apartments by June.