Commercial broker Mark Hulsey has no illusions about Highland Station, the four-bay service station, micro-convenience store and car wash he’s attempting to market for sale at the corner of Snelling and Randolph avenues.

Snelling Avenue is a state highway that draws high traffic counts. Randolph Avenue runs through the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, one of St. Paul’s higher-end communities. Highland Station sits on more than a half-acre of land. Combined, those assets would make 485 Snelling Ave. S. a ripe target for a developer with plans for a five-story apartment building over underground parking, if this were 2019.

But the year is 2025, and between current development costs and slowing demographic projections for St. Paul, that’s not going to happen. Hulsey, 62, who has been mark

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