The newest revitalization project planned in the North Davidson Arts District will displace an old house, but it will try to blend with the character of the re-emerging neighborhood.

Crosland, a Charlotte real estate development company, plans a three-story, 16,000- square-foot brick retail-residential building mimicking NoDa's early 1900s commercial structures.

It's the second such project on North Davidson Street in NoDa for Crosland, which is nearing completion of a three-story building there.

The neighborhood, about three miles northeast of uptown, is in the midst of a revitalization wave that began in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dancers, actors and artists reclaimed aging mill houses and fueled interest in eclectic galleries, shops and restaurants. That's when it picked up the NoDa nickname.

Known as North Charlotte to natives, the neighborhood traces its roots to the early 1900s when homes and businesses sprang up around the Highland Manufacturing Co.

In the early days, a streetcar ran to the North Charlotte business district around Davidson and 36th streets, which once included a hotel, drugstores, grocery stores, police station and movie theater.

Real estate watchers sometimes compare NoDa to South End, which has emerged from its mill village heritage into a trendy district of shops, restaurants, residences and offices along South Boulevard near uptown.

But Neighborhood Realty President Paul McBroom, one of the North Charlotte redevelopment pioneers, said NoDa is different from South End because of its supply of old houses.

For widespread residential redevelopment to occur, he said, "You would have to destroy those houses, and no one is going to allow that to happen."

It's more likely, McBroom said, that mid-rise apartments and condos will spring up along the commercial corridor, where a light-rail transit line eventually will run through North Charlotte.

"Light rail is coming to NoDa, and it might be closer to five years than 15 years," McBroom said.

North Charlotte needs to protect its history and its historic buildings, he said, "but my personal opinion is not everything built needs to look old."

Neighborhood Realty began restoring mill houses in NoDa in the mid-1990s and bought the vacant 300-seat theater and 35,000 square feet of shops on 36th Street in 1997.

McBroom has watched real estate prices increase steadily as developers and home buyers discover the neighborhood.

"Six or seven years ago, we were buying old houses for $17,000 to $20,000, redoing them and reselling them in the $65,000- to-$70,000-range," he said.

"Today, you'll pay $80,000 to $100,000 for a rundown mill house. Completely redone, it will sell for $150,000 to $200,000."

The latest trend, he said, is buying a 1,200-square-foot mill house and doubling the size to more than 2,000 square feet.

Some are selling for more than $250,000, McBroom said.

On Davidson Street at 34th Street, which Crosland Vice President Eric Vargosko calls the "gateway" to the business district, the company's planned mixed-use building will attempt to blend with businesses and residences.

Vargosko said 13 loft-style units are planned atop first-floor shops in the structure, designed by MWT Architecture.

"We tried to pay attention to all four sides," Vargosko said. Some residences will have views of homes on the back side of the building, and the corner closest to 34th Street will have a large two-story window.

He said a rooftop terrace is under consideration for the project.

The units, ranging from 520 square feet to 980 square feet, will sell for about $170 a square foot, putting the purchase price of the smallest at roughly $88,400.

Crosland Vice President Eric Vargosko, who is spearheading the project, said the four ground-level retail units will range from 750 square feet to just over 1,000 square feet and be priced in the $150-a-square-foot range.

To make way, the owners of Kelly's Cafe, who sold the site to Crosland, will move a former residence from there to another location in the area.

Vargosko said Crosland needs a rezoning to proceed, but he's optimistic neighbors will endorse the project, valued at $3.2 million, when the City Council hears the petition next month.

If approved, he said, Crosland probably will start construction late this year. Crosland's first project in NoDa -- a 14,000-square-foot residential-retail building at 3205 N. Davidson St. -- is about 90 percent sold and nearing completion in late October. Vargosko said the first floor commercial space will be filled by an art gallery, a real estate agency, a wine-and-cheese bar and a clothing store.

Crosland named it the Nevitt Building for Pat Nevitt. She owned Pat's Time For One More bar, which was demolished to clear the way for the project.

Vargosko said Crosland has its eye on another project of similar size in NoDa, but the details are still being worked out.

Since North Charlotte's rediscovery, two century-old mills have been converted to apartments, and the owners of Highland Park Mill No. 3 are planning to do the same.