Imagine a mix of shops, offices, restaurants and homes rivaling the scope of Raleigh's North Hills development -- in Wendell in eastern Wake County. Now imagine something better, says Greg Ferguson of Mercury Development. "If you think North Hills is hopping ..."

Ferguson, a fighter-pilot-turned- developer, is tweaking plans at the 1,300-acre, 4,000-home Wendell Falls development he is building, to enable a North Hills-esque mix.

Ferguson is chopping some single-family homes from his plans and replacing them with 80 acres designated for a mixed-use development -- about the same footprint North Hills developer John Kane has at Interstate 440 and Six Forks Road.

The town approved Ferguson's plans to quadruple the amount of potential commercial space to 2 million square feet -- more floor space than Crabtree Valley Mall or Triangle Town Center.

Ferguson decided to make the switch after retailers began buzzing him weekly. Beyond plans for WakeMed to build a satellite medical campus there, no other commercial deals are inked, though.

"The retailers want to see some rooftops out there," he says. "They want to make sure that the housing is going to show up like we say it will."

That might take a while. Sales of Wake homes dropped 10.5 percent in February as the glut of unsold homes rose to at least a five-year high, according to the Triangle Multiple Listing Service.

The first Wendell Falls homes wouldn't be finished until next year, which should give the market a little time to recover.

"People are going to have to get back in the market at some point," Ferguson says. "And when they do, we have lots approved, ready to be built. We can have those on line faster than anyone in the Triangle."

In the meantime, Ferguson is building a privately financed, five-lane interchange to connect the development to U.S. 64/264, touting the location -- about 20 miles from downtown Raleigh -- as "almost as close to downtown as North Hills," which is less than 10 miles from downtown Raleigh.

"It's about 12 minutes from downtown," Ferguson insists.

Maybe in an F-14.

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Plans are shaping up for a mixed-use development in Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood.

Developer Bobby Lewis last week filed preliminary site plans for The Fairview on 1.1 acres next to the post office on Fairview Road.

The four-story, 55,500-square-foot project would take the place of three houses-turned-shops that sit on the property.

The project would belly up to Fairview with parking in the back and would include up to 42 residences over ground-floor shops.