KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Reclaim its former glory: that is the goal for Knoxville's North District.

And even in the down economy, you can always see construction work in that part of town.

The idea is to give the area north of downtown a "village feel."

On Friday we found the most activity in the Emory Place Neighborhood.

"Downtown North" is a district that's getting a lot of cosmetic attention these days.

"There's a lot of construction taking place. There's a lot of good improvements happening, that are happening during bad times so we think things will really go well when good times return," Bob Whetsel the Knoxville Director of Redevelopment told Volunteer TV.

The city of Knoxville wants the area to become an extension of the revitalization work in downtown.

"You're only two blocks from downtown, really," Glenn Bullock the president of the Bullock Group Inc., said.

Bullock's architecture company is a beneficiary of the work; located in Emory Place-- just off Broadway-- Bullock's block is getting new paint, new facades.

"You're going to see it all blending together," Bullock smiled. "And I think it's going to be really exciting."

"Starting Monday, they're going to start on ours," Jack Wood of the Wood Printing Company said, pointing the front, "doing whatever work needs to be done to it, for the facade-- the front of it here."

Wood's family printing business, has opened its Emory Place doors for 28 years.

Wood and other merchants say the North side has a bad wrap, but with the redevelopment, this neighborhood has only good things to come.

"That will force, I guess you'd say, undesirables the other way," Wood said.

City officials say businesses like Lusk Body Company remodeled three years ago and that sparked the historic district's excitement.

"One has led to another, led to another, led to another. It's just been a continual flow of properties for the last two years now," Whetsel told WVLT.

And he hopes the redevelopment end is not in sight.

"North Knoxville is a vibrant, historic part of town. Great buildings. Great structures. Good businesses some new, some long-standing and that there's a good future out here for them as well," Whetsel continued.

The money for the project comes from both Empowerment Zone funding, which is a federal grant, and private developers.

Of course, when you think of North Knoxville, you may be wondering about the Minvilla progress-- the permanent housing facility for the homeless.

On Friday, Whetsel told Volunteer TV it is on track to be completed and occupied by this fall.