GREENSBORO - It's Saturday, lunchtime, and you're a young lawyer who has just moved to Greensboro.

Just a few steps from your door, there are a coffee shop, an Asian restaurant, a grill and an Italian cafe.

The grocery store is a five-minute walk away, along with a pharmacy and a dry cleaner. And you can buy clothes, art and handmade jewelry without getting in your car.

That's the atmosphere Koury Corp. is trying to create on Pisgah Church Road with the Village at North Elm.

The developer has finished four of 10 main buildings planned in the mixed-use community, a blend of residential, office and retail space catering to an upscale clientele.

Koury recently announced six openings there, ranging from a children's clothing store to another Chop House Grille. Three other retailers plan to open by early 2006, and Allen Tate Realtors will lease space on the first and second floors.

The first project of its kind in the Triad, the 23-acre Village takes a cue from Charlotte's Phillips Place and Huntersville's Birkdale Village, walkable communities designed for atmosphere and convenience.

"There's no doubt about it," said Keith Debbage, professor of geography and urban development at UNCG. "I mean, what's happening, basically, is this is part of a national trend."

One, he says, the state has been slow to pick up on.

Certainly, it's a new direction for Koury, which developed the convention center bearing its name and Four Seasons Town Centre, in addition to a number of neighborhoods and shopping centers across town. Koury also is building the upscale Grandover development south of Greensboro, near Jamestown.

"It's a unique feel," said Ronald Mack, the company's executive vice president for retail. "It's a unique atmosphere."

By summer 2006, the Village is scheduled to complete 72,000 square feet of stores and restaurants and 48,000 square feet of office space near the intersection of Elm Street and Pisgah Church, where Koury has a shopping center featuring a Harris Teeter.

The developer is renting out the office and retail space, but it did sell a plot of land there to the State Employees' Credit Union for $881,500, according to county records.

This and other businesses and services, including outdoor wireless Internet, will cater to the residents of about 190 luxury apartments, 30 of which will open in late summer, Mack said. Plans for the gated living area include a swimming pool and workout facilities.

The developer hasn't set rents for the one- to three-bedroom apartments, but Mack said they likely will range from $850 to $1,500 monthly.

The average rent in that part of Greensboro is $575, according to an October report from Real Data Apartment Market Research. But it's a developing area that can cater to the luxury model, Mack said.

In 2003, there were about 25,000 households within three miles of the Village site, with an average household income near $92,000, according to a study commissioned by Koury.

"Basically, the bottom line is that for these lifestyle centers to work, they have to be in market areas with fairly high-end demographics," said Debbage, who added that Koury likely hopes to attract shoppers from the nearby Lake Jeanette area.

The Village already has snagged stores from other city locations. The Marshall Art Gallery is ditching downtown for the Village, and the Indigo Bead Studio has moved there from Friendly Avenue.

"I had a good business," said bead studio owner Wendi Mason. "It had grown, but it was a total destination stop."

So when Koury recruited her, Mason was glad to move to a larger space where she'd attract new people. The rent per square foot, she says, is comparable to what she paid on Friendly.

Mack said Koury sought out some of its tenants.

"We tend to do more of seeking out than filling orders," he said. "There are a number of people that have expressed interest that we didn't think fit the project."

If the Village is a success, the Triad could see more mixed-use development in coming years, Debbage said. And that could create a whole new image for shopping centers.

"When the main street is up and running and people are sitting, enjoying a meal, there'll be a sense of place there that you don't see in normal strip development," he said.

"(Koury has) kind of manufactured a sense of place there out in the suburbs, and for that, I applaud them."