With the intention of adding several floors of market-rate housing, developer Jim LaValle is working on a purchase agreement for the parking ramp at the Best Western Hotel in St. Paul’s Bandana Square.

LaValle, of St. Paul-based TJL Development, said in a brief interview Friday that he would purchase the 400-stall ramp at 1015 Bandana Boulevard W. and remove 150 parking spots to replace them with housing. The redeveloped ramp would offer 150 studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments near Lexington Parkway and Energy Park Drive.

The ramp, which currently extends roughly two stories above ground, would rise 60 feet above ground once the housing is complete. The shared parking would service the new residential units as well as Best Western clients.

On March 26, the St. Paul Planning Commission’s zoning committee will review LaValle’s request to rezone the property from B3, or general business, to T3, or “traditional neighborhood,” which allows a greater mix of residential and commercial uses.