Charlotte developers David Furman and Bobby Drakeford are teaming to build condos on one of the last undeveloped parcels in First Ward's Garden District.

M Street, planned for nearly 5 acres along McDowell Street at Seventh and Eighth streets, will include 67 residential and six commercial units.

Furman's Boulevard Centro has developed 136 condo units in the Garden District, which extends between Ninth and 11th streets to Interstate 277 in the northeast corner of First Ward.

He and Drakeford of The Drakeford Co. will stick to Centro's tried-and-true formula there: multi-story "vertical lofts" emphasizing compactness, funky design and skyline views.

M Street units range from about 1,100 to just over 1,300 square feet and are priced from the $190,000s to the $250,000s.

Furman believes the project will help "fill out" the Garden District, created about six years ago as part of a transformation of the 409-unit Earle Village public housing project into a mixed-income neighborhood.

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

Three years later the authority received a $40 million federal grant to replace them with a variety of housing types, including some public housing, in the 11-acre redevelopment tract that became 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 started his first Garden District condos -- 44-unit Skyline Terrace -- about four years ago. Other developers also joined in. Among them were Saussy Burbank Homes, which built single-family houses and duplexes, and Tuscan Development with 93-unit Tivoli condominiums.

Centro's mission in the Garden District, Furman said, has been to create a new neighborhood a parcel at a time, much like the city's earliest neighborhoods evolved.

But now, with the momentum for center city living intensifying, Furman sees the uptown market shifting from relatively low-density housing like that in the Garden District to high-rise projects of more than 100 units each.

Today, the big attraction is tall residential buildings within an easy walk of the new arena site and uptown entertainment and cultural amenities. Three such projects -- including Centro's 16-story Courtside -- have been announced this year.

Suburbanites tired of commuting, empty nesters looking to downsize and young professionals eager to live near nightlife, restaurants and jobs are fueling the housing rush back to the core.

The center city population has climbed to 8,500 from about 5,500 in the mid-1990s. And it got a boost last month when 1,200 Johnson & Wales University students arrived for classes. Charlotte Center City Partners is projecting the uptown population will grow to 15,000 by 2010.

M Street likely will appeal to that large market segment of young buyers with its edgy interior design, including main living areas on the second floor and master bedrooms on the third.

Centro says floor plans -- with a second bedroom and flex/den space on the ground level -- are suitable for singles, couples and roommates.

The project, valued at $17 million, also will include three two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot flats on corners atop the street-level commercial units.

About 40 condos will have one-car garages. Other features include balconies, private rear courtyards, ceramic tile bathroom floors and wooden floors and 10-foot ceilings on living levels.

Furman said a section of McDowell Street will become more pedestrian friendly with a median, planting strip and wide sidewalks to accommodate residents of M Street.

The condos will go up between I-277 and Little Rock AME Zion Church. Eighth Street -- to be extended east into the site -- will be lined with units on both sides. Other condos will face McDowell, Seventh and a courtyard.

The developers, who have the property under contract for purchase from the city, originally considered a combination of sale and rental units.

Under that plan, the city would have sold the land at a discount if the developers would include affordable rental units for low-income residents.

But after some council members expressed concern about subsidizing condos as well as affordable units, the city decided to sell the land at market value.

Buyers have reserved 41 residential condos and two commercial units.

As the company sells out an announced project, it lists potential buyers who want to be notified of the next. About 85 people were on the list used to generate reservations.

Furman said the developers, who are negotiating with a general contractor, expect to start construction late this year and finish the first condos by late 2005.

Drakeford's other Charlotte projects include The Grandin condos and townhomes and Summit Greenway condos and single-family home sites, both in Wesley Heights.