A retired electrical engineer and World War II veteran, McConnell, 78, moved to Winston-Salem with his wife, Donna, from the Chicago area last year to get away from the cold. Welton, 39, is a Wake Forest University graduate who stayed in town; he now works for the Forsyth Humane Society.

Despite their different backgrounds, Welton and McConnell share a common passion - they might become neighbors in the $87million Unity Place project on the western edge of downtown. They are two of about 30 people who have inquired about the condominiums planned for Unity Place.

On the south side of downtown, there's another residential project that's attracting strong interest.

Construction is scheduled to start in the spring on the $9 million Tar Branch Towers, a four-story building consisting mainly of luxury condominiums on South Marshall Street near Old Salem. The project is expected to be completed by the summer of next year.

The building will have 24 condos and one 5,000-square-foot space for commercial use.

Jack Steelman, the city's downtown-development director, said that the once-depleted residential stock in downtown is finally being built up. And the projects come at a time of renewed commercial interest in downtown as well.

For years, economic-development officials have debated whether people must first live downtown for businesses, especially such services as grocery stores, restaurants and dry cleaners, to follow.

"Builders are responding to the market," Steelman said. "We're finally starting to see both the housing and the services happen simultaneously, which includes dining and entertainment. I have never been convinced that one was to precede the other, but they really do need to grow together, and that's clearly what we're seeing today." "

The $87 million Unity Place mixed-use project at Broad and Fourth streets will contain Krispy Kreme's headquarters, shops, town houses, offices, a movie theater and a performing-arts center. The N.C. School of the Arts is developing the Krispy Kreme offices and movie theater. Lincoln Harris, a real-estate company, is developing housing, offices and retail.

John Reece, a regional director of Lincoln Harris, said that people started calling his office to reserve condos immediately after details of the deal were announced Jan. 23 before an audience of nearly 800 at the Stevens Center.

"The response has been overwhelming," Reece said yesterday. "It's a wonderful cross-section of people. There are the young professional types and just as many retirees. We're hearing from people who have lived in other parts of the country in downtown areas and want to get back to that environment."

In the first phase, Lincoln Harris plans to build a mix of 36 condos and town houses on Broad Street. They will range from 1,200 square feet to 1,500 square feet and cost $150,000 to $250,000. In all, 74 condos are planned.

Deposits aren't being taken, but the company is keeping a list of interested buyers.

McConnell said he is attracted to Unity Place because he has an affinity for redevelopment areas and living around people of all ages.

"We wouldn't want it to be all retirement folks or all twenty-somethings with parties all night," McConnell said. "And we really believe Winston-Salem is on the way up in a very major way, and it would be exciting to be a part of that."

For Welton, the idea of being close to the Central YMCA in West End, where he works out, and within walking distance of restaurants, shops and, he hopes, a grocery store, is ideal. He now lives in a single-family home near Wake Forest.

"There have been so many wonderful things coming downtown in the past year, and I think this will bring the critical mass that will make downtown a very viable destination," Welton said.

At the Tar Branch condos, people who have made reservations so far are primarily "empty-nesters," said Beau Dancy, who is leading the project and owns Beau Dancy Construction Co. Empty-nesters are couples whose children have grown up and moved out. They don't need the space of a big home anymore and don't want to deal with some of the headaches of home ownership, such as lawn and other maintenance.

People who have made reservations include those living in some of the fancier neighborhoods in the city, such as Buena Vista, Dancy said. He said that they are attracted in part by Tar Branch Towers' urban setting.

He said he's also expecting to draw young single people and young couples to the building, but probably not families.

The Tar Branch condos won't come cheap. At $150 a square foot, they would range in price from $195,000 for the smallest, 1,300-square-foot units to some $400,000 for units of close to 3,000 square feet. Plans include even larger units, possibly as big as 5,400 square feet.

Tar Branch Towers will be built on the southeast corner of South Marshall and Wachovia streets next to the historic Brookstown Inn. Dancy also spearheaded The Mill at Tar Branch, a successful residential and commercial development across the street.

"I feel like I've been good to the neighborhood and the neighborhood in turn is giving back to me," Dancy said.

• Carey Hamilton can be reached at 727-7286 or at chamilton@wsjournal.com

• Brian Louis can be reached at 727-7378 or at blouis@wsjournal.com