One of the first projects will be a five-story, 40-unit apartment building planned by A.J. and Leonard Adewunmi of D&R Building Group. That project, at the southwest corner of Missouri Avenue and LaSalle Street, was approved by the St. Louis Preservation Board on Monday.

With a portfolio that includes projects such as the Rutger Lofts, the company has been active in the Lafayette Square neighborhood for about 10 years, Leonard Adewunmi said.

“We’ve had pretty good success in the area,” he said.

The planned apartment building, estimated to cost between $6 million and $10 million, includes ground floor commercial space, and the residential units will have two floors of space. The company hopes to start construction this summer and complete it around the end of 2020.

Odell said an additional 14 detached town homes will be constructed as part of the first phase. But much of the initial work requires upgrading the old utilities and other infrastructure in the former industrial area. Odell said the group hopes to begin a 150-unit apartment building on the Praxair site early next year, but timing will depend on the infrastructure work. A new public park would be added around that time.