Former NBA player Devean George has been developing North Minneapolis for years. Now he has a partner familiar to Timberwolves fans: Kevin Garnett. George, Garnett and a South Carolina real estate firm, Chamire Holdings, are close to purchasing three vacant lots from the city at the northwest corner of Golden Valley Road and Penn Avenue North. The lots will be combined with three others that George’s company, Wayzata-based George Group North, already owns on the west side of the block. The team plans to build a 64-unit apartment complex, with 10 units for those making 50 percent of the area’s median income and 54 for those making 60 percent of the area’s median income. The project would cost $15.1 million, said City Senior Project Coordinator Tiffany Glasper.