Architect David Furman's development company has started building condominiums on the last two parcels he owns in First Ward's Garden District.

When The Corners, a nine-unit project, is finished this fall, Boulevard Centro will have added 136 condos valued at $24 million to a part of uptown most Charlotteans avoided just a decade ago.

The transformation of what once was the 409-unit Earle Village public housing project into a coveted neighborhood of condos, apartments and single-family houses is one of Charlotte's development success stories.

In 1995, the Charlotte Housing Authority began demolishing dilapidated apartment buildings in Earle Village, which had become a magnet for crime and drugs.

Three years later the authority received a $40 million federal grant to replace them with a mix of housing types, including some public housing, in an 11-acre redevelopment tract called the Garden District.

Bank of America Community Development worked with the city and Housing Authority to buy land, redesign streets, create green space and resell parcels at bargain prices to lure developers.

Furman recalls a planning meeting where city officials tried to interest developers.

There was a lot of doubt in the room, he said, but his company Boulevard Centro bought into the vision. "We saw it as an opportunity to create a new neighborhood," he said

Furman secured options to buy slightly more than 4.5 acres in the Garden District, which extends between Ninth and 11th streets to Interstate 277 in the northeast corner of First Ward.

Others eventually joined in. Among them were Saussy Burbank Homes, which built single-family houses and duplexes, and Tuscan Development with 93-unit Tivoli condominiums.

Furman's first Garden District development, started in 2000, was Skyline Terrace, a three-story, 44-unit townhome-style condo project capitalizing on views of the uptown skyline from balconies and terraces.

When that project sold out, Furman said, Boulevard Centro used the money to buy the rest of the 4.5 acres it had optioned.

Owning the land was important, he said, because it enabled him to do one project at a time -- each with a different design and price range -- at his own methodical pace over four years.

Furman envisioned his mission as building a neighborhood a parcel at a time, much like the city's earliest neighborhoods evolved.

The Corners is his sixth project in the Garden District. Others include Cityview Townes, Alexander Court, Tenth Street Townes and Cityview Lofts, under construction and to be completed this summer.

Only six of 25 units remain for sale at Cityview Lofts, which features three residential levels atop a parking garage and a 1,000-square-foot retail space on North Davidson Street.

Laura Baker, who is handling project sales at Boulevard Centro, said the remaining lofts range from 650 square feet to 1,000 square feet.

Prices vary from $128,000 to $190,000, but most of the units are in the $140,000s range, she said.

Furman, who had envisioned the retail space as a coffee shop or tea room, said it was purchased by two First Ward residents. They are polling neighbors on what type of business to open there.

The Corners is under way on opposite corners of Alexander Street at Garden District Drive. Five units are on one side of the street, and four on the other.

Condos in The Corners range from 1,400 square feet to 1,600 square feet. Only one unit is unsold. It's 1,600 square feet with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, priced at $290,000.

Furman said he purposely held off construction on the final two parcels until he could determine the right project to conclude his new neighborhood.

As it turns out, buyers decided. Boulevard Centro asked a waiting list of more than 25 people for opinions on what was needed.

The majority wanted larger units -- something that could accommodate growing families and provide move-up units for people living in the Garden District.

Now, with nearly all the 136 units sold, Furman could be saying goodbye to the Garden District by the end of the year.

He expects to do more in First Ward, where land remains available for development. But he's getting excited about Second Ward -- part of uptown yet to be touched by the residential boom.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Second Ward revitalization plan calls for a mixed-income community of 4,000 households covering more than 100 acres bound by Third and Brevard streets, the John Belk Freeway and Midtown Square shopping center.

Second Ward includes a large concentration of government buildings, plus seldom-used Marshall Park.

The challenge of developing there, Furman said, is breaking big imposing blocks down into "bite-size" increments so developers can build piecemeal as he did in the Garden District. He plans to present his ideas to planners and government leaders.

But even if Second Ward does become his next baby, you'll see Furman occasionally in the Garden District.

He has relatives living there.

He enjoys driving through in the evening and admiring lights glowing in buildings designed by his architectural firm.

And he loves to see people walking on the sidewalk, pushing baby carriages and gathering in courtyards to socialize.

For natives, it is hard to believe this is a part of town most Charlotteans saw as unsafe.