The heretofore languishing Third Street corridor, a broad seven-plus mile corridor stretching southward from the Ball Park and Caltrain Station has always been ripe for development– especially after a new light rail that connects the neighborhood to downtown opened last year. Now a silghtly renewed economy is finally pushing the wheels of progress forward as formerly stalled out building projects are nearing completion or starting up again.

In the vanguard is Holliday Development’s 5800 Third Street, a $75 million 140-unit condo development. Rick Holliday is best known (at least to me) for figuring out that those cool brick and timber warehouses South of Market could be converted into cool brick and timber lofts. He’s a standard-bearer for innovation and quality design and the perfect ‘pioneer’ for this neighborhood. If 5800 Third Street reflects his quality and aesthetic, this project is bound to be a winner.

5800 Third Street also includes a retail component: the bigger tenant is a 15,000-square-foot Fresh & Easy grocery store. The Fresh & Easy concept combines Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods– with lower prices and a large ”ready to serve” component.

Holliday also struck a deal with Delancey Street to open a new Crossroads Cafe at 5800 Third Street. Delancey Street’s original Crossroads Cafe is a lofty sunlit space in South Beach that welcomes WiFi coffee drinkers and hungry folks seeking seriously good salads and sandwiches. If the second Crossroads is anything like the first one, it’s sure to be a winner.

Pricing for the 5800 Third Street hasn’t been set in stone yet, but the sales team is talking about something under $400/square foot. This will put the range for the homes into the low $300,000s for one-bedrooms to high $500,000s for the three-bedroom, three-bath 1,800 square foot units.

Supermarkets like Fresh & Easy and dining options like Crossroads Cafe tend to anchor a neighborhood. There are also two more residential projects underway nearby: one with below-market- rate units for sale and another with affordable senior housing. All three projects combined should create an influx of 1,000+residents by next spring.

These changes could be the neighborhood’s tipping point –and finally put Third Street on the map as a top choice for home buyers seeking affordability, sunny weather and good public transit.