Jodie Bartock is a pioneer, and a patient one at that.

He has bought a condominium that hasn't yet been built next to an old freight track that will carry light-rail trains, but not until 2006.

The 30-year-old accountant doesn't work uptown, so he can't ride the train to work. Instead, he bought the condo near the planned New Bern/Marsh Road station as an investment.

"Light rail is a great way to go," said Bartock, who'll live in the condo and ride the train to football and basketball games. "I think property values will increase -- a lot."

With the start of light-rail construction only five months away, interest is heating up in the project that's expected to bring major redevelopment -- and thousands of new residents -- to South Boulevard over the next few decades.

Land prices have increased about 10 percent in the last nine months on the properties that Charlotte Area Transit System plans to buy for the stations and parking lots along the track, said project manager David Leard. CATS expects to spend about $26 million to buy properties, including 41 businesses that will be relocated, 23 vacant buildings and parcels, as well as smaller portions of 14 properties.

He expects to begin buying land by the end of May -- before prices go up even more.

CATS plans to break ground this fall on two tracks that will carry electric-powered trains from uptown to near Pineville along South Boulevard. The $371 million line will have 14 stations, from Seventh Street to Interstate 485.

Property owners and developers hope to repeat the success of the uptown-to-South End trolley line, which has drawn $400 million in private investment to build condos, apartments, shops and offices. Light-rail trains will run on those same trolley tracks and then continue on their own tracks into south Charlotte.

Up and down South Boulevard, developers and landowners are studying the light-rail plans. Most say it's too early to buy because train service is still three years away. But a few early birds with land near stations are talking with developers or preparing their own building plans.

The Pepsi-Cola Bottling Plant is just across the street from the future New Bern/Marsh station. Executive Vice President Darrell Holland gets lots of calls from developers and real estate agents who want to know if Pepsi is selling its building and the 9 acres it owns nearby.

The answer is yes. Holland says the plant needs more room and expects to move in about five years. "I think someone will buy it and build some fine condos," he said.

Andy Heath is the first developer to start construction near a station, at New Bern/Marsh Road, a six-minute train ride to uptown. He is building 3030 South, a 4.2-acre complex of 96 condos, offices and shops. The first residents, including Bartock, will move in early next year.

Today, South Boulevard is a string of car lots, small businesses and strip shopping centers. But light rail will change that, Heath says. A combination of public dollars for new streets, sidewalks and landscaping, plus private money to develop shops and homes, will rejuvenate the area around the stations, he said.

"Look what happened in First Ward," he said, referring to that once-rundown uptown area that was recently redeveloped. "That can happen here, too."

New Bern is considered the model for other stations. It's near the hot South End real estate market, as well as an older industrial area that's ripe for redevelopment. Changes may ripple out from the station at least a quarter-mile -- about the distance a passenger might walk to catch a train.

CATS proposes a small park on South Boulevard where the Wachovia bank now sits. Once the bank is demolished, the station will be visible from the street. Work is already complete on a broad sidewalk/bike path next to the track, from uptown to Tremont Avenue and maybe farther.

The biggest change will come several years from now when Marsh Properties redevelops its 42 acres off Poindexter Drive, a 10-minute walk to the train station. One day its scattered brick apartments on their oak-shaded lawns will be replaced with trendy units where hundreds of commuters could live. "It could be significant -- a nice impact on the New Bern station," said its president, Jamie McLawhorn.

That's still a few years away because McLawhorn wants the train up and running before he makes any changes.

Developers are also busy farther south. A small shopping center is proposed at the end of the line, near Interstate 485, with construction probably starting late this year. That 1.6-acre parcel, on the market for just over $1 million, is the last vacant land near what will be the line's largest station, opposite Carolina Pavilion.

That 12,000-square-foot shopping center will offer goods and services that train commuters need, with possible tenants such as a sandwich shop, hair salon, dry cleaners and ice cream store, says Matthew Funderburk, an agent with The Chambers Group.

Other property owners, like former state Sen. Jerry Blackmon, are holding back but watching.

Blackmon sits on a transit advisory board, and his family owns 48 acres on England Street, a short walk from the future Arrowood Road station. For years they've envisioned a business park there, but since light rail was announced they are now leaning toward residential. He's waiting for the economy to improve and for plans for the new station to take shape.

"This won't happen overnight," said Blackmon. "It is more than three years before the trains start running and maybe three more years after that before development really gets moving."

Blackmon is looking down the road, both in miles and years. "I don't want it to stop at 485. I think it should go into Rock Hill, and we will truly have a regional system. When you plan rail, it is basically forever."