St. Paul’s oldest remaining fire station will stay standing.

After months of discussion with developers who had previously planned to raze the historic West End structure to make way for a hotel, St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker announced Thursday that a deal had been reached to redevelop it instead.

Part of the arrangement includes a $500,000 forgivable loan from the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority to help developers cover the added costs associated with adjusting building plans to accommodate both the hotel and the firehouse on the site.

The property is on the southwest corner of Leech Street and Grand Avenue near United and Children’s hospitals.

Built in 1871 for the Hope Engine Co., the firehouse is the oldest standing building that once served a municipal purpose in St. Paul. Despite its history, it has not been designated as historic.

Until recently, real estate developer Dave Brooks and his business partner Jim Kelly had planned to demolish the building and replace it with a 109-room, extended-stay Marriott. Construction was slated to start this summer. The developers bought the property from Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., which annexed the former fire station into a warehouse built on the site years ago.

“I am thrilled to be able to preserve the firehouse for the next generation of Saint Paul residents,” Noecker said in a written statement about the deal. “The committed neighbors in the area deserve a huge thank you for their efforts in raising awareness of the building’s significance and staying its demolition. I also appreciate the developers’ willingness to come to the table and figure out a better way forward.”

Neither Brooks nor his representative Chuck Repke could be immediately reached for comment about the project. Brooks has redeveloped several historic sites in Lowertown.

It’s not yet clear how the firehouse will be redeveloped, though previous discussion was centered around turning it into some type of restaurant or coffeeshop that would serve guests staying at the new Marriott.

Elyse Jensen, president of the Historic Irvine Park Association, said she’s heard both options remain on the table.

She was part of the group of community members from the West Seventh Street neighborhood who filed a civil suit in Ramsey County District Court to thwart Brooks’ development plans after learning about the toll they would take on the firehouse.

The suit was stayed to allow both sides time to seek an agreement outside of court.

Jensen welcomed news of the firehouse’s preservation Thursday.

“We are really happy (the developers) were willing to compromise,” she said. “It seems like we found a solution that will work for them and now the community gets to keep an iconic building that is historically valuable to us.”

While it’s not yet clear what the $500,000 HRA loan will cover, Repke previously said that the Marriott would lose about 25 of its planned parking spaces if the fire station remained onsite.

To accommodate the loss, he said spaces could be built underneath the Marriott. He estimated at the time that the adjustment would cost about $600,000 and said the developers would look to the city to offset it.

Noecker could not be immediately reached for additional comment on project details.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Historic Irvine Park Association.