Ryan pays $4.5M for O'Gara's site in St. Paul.

Byline: Matt M. Johnson

An entity related to Ryan Cos. US Inc. has paid nearly $4.47 million for O'Gara's Bar & Grill and nearby property, preparing the path to start construction on a mixed-use apartment complex in St. Paul.

The buyer was 164 Snelling St. Paul LLC, according to a certificate of real estate value made public on Thursday. The purchase covers the 19,360-square-foot bar at 164 Snelling Ave. N. and four separate tax parcels totaling 1.18 acres of land. Three homes are on three of the parcels.

The seller is O'Gara Properties LLC, a company managed by O'Gara's owner Daniel O'Gara, according to records on file with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office.

The purchase price works out to about $3.8 million per acre. Ramsey County values the property at $2.68 million.

Minneapolis-based Ryan and St. Louis Park-based Excelsior Group plan to build 163 apartments and more than 4,000 square feet of retail on the site. The existing 100-year-old bar building and the homes will be razed, but O'Gara's will live on in the retail portion of the new, five-story building.

The developers submitted their plan to the city of St. Paul in May. The city has conditionally approved a site plan for the project and a building permit is currently under...