For more than five years, city and county leaders have talked about creating an urban village of shops, homes, offices and green space in First Ward.

But a slew of other priorities and a slow economy have kept the project on the back burner.

Now Charlotte developer Daniel Levine wants to speed up the process, possibly completing the first buildings -- a public park and a parking garage -- by late 2005.

"The time is now," he said, "given the momentum of the Children's Learning Center, the uptown arena and the coming of the trolley and light rail transit."

Levine Properties and development partner Cousins Properties have been working for several months with the city and county to jump-start the urban village.

"It became apparent that to bring the vision of the city, the county, Cousins Properties and Levine Properties to fruition, I would have to spend a significant amount of time on it," Levine said.

To make that happen, Levine Properties hired Sig Arnesen away from GVA Lat Purser & Associates Inc. to run day-to-day operations while Daniel Levine devotes his time to the urban village.

"Sig is already at work, and I'm ready to go," Levine said. "I'm rolling up my shirtsleeves."

Levine Properties owns 22 acres that would be combined with 17 acres of city and county land -- including the Hal Marshall Services Center site on North Tryon -- to create the village.

The starting point, Levine said, is a public park with a 1,500-space underground parking garage, proposed on 5.5 acres of the developer's property between Ninth and Seventh streets.

Across Seventh, the children's learning center, now called ImaginOn, is aiming for a 2005 opening on a block bounded by the trolley line and Sixth, Seventh and Brevard streets.

The arena, under way on East Trade Street between Caldwell Street and the trolley line, also opens in fall 2005.

"If you put all that together, you get almost a completely renovated First Ward (eastward) from Tryon along the trolley line and (northward) from Trade to Ninth Street," Levine said.

The urban village suffered a setback in March 2002 after the city's and county's chosen developer -- New York-based Palladium -- pulled out, citing a weak economy.

Levine/Cousins, which finished second in a government selection process, took over.

"We are working closely with the city and the county to put the first piece of the puzzle -- the park -- in place," Levine said. "Everybody is in concurrence this is the right place for the park, and the county wants to move forward."

Some Mecklenburg officials have mentioned swapping government-owned land for Levine's park acreage, but no decisions have been made.

"The piece we are trying to figure out now is the subterranean parking for the public park site," Levine said. "We're just beginning to talk about public participation, but hopefully it will be a public-private venture with the private sector taking the preponderance of the risk."

Construction of the parking garage will cost the developers about $30 million, he said, but there is "a demonstrated public need.

It would serve the library, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, the Levine Museum of the New South, Spirit Square and the children's learning center."

If the city and county approve the plan within 120 days, Levine said, the park and parking facility could open by late 2005.

During that same time frame, he said, the developers would start work on two 80,000-square- foot buildings next to the park.

The multi-story structures would cost roughly $10 million each and include shops on the ground level with office and residences above.

The Levine/Cousins' plan envisions $600 million in development, including offices for 4,800 workers, homes for 4,700 people and cultural facilities.

Levine conducted a national search to find new chief operating officer Arnesen, formerly senior vice president/director of property management at GVA Lat Purser & Associates, where he managed 17 people in Charlotte and Raleigh and helped oversee the company's assets.

Doug Smith