With a housing boom following on the heels of a commercial boom, the Martin Luther King Drive neighborhood is proving to be Milwaukee's up-and-coming area despite the disappointment of losing the Harley Museum.

Commercial development on King Drive began about 1995, thanks largely to the efforts of the Historic King Drive Association, a group of business people and community members who formed the organization three years earlier to work toward revitalizing the area, according to Brian Haywood, former executive director of the organization, which now is called the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District. (Haywood recently left the position, and Randy Roth is the interim director.)

From 1995 through 2000, about $51 million in development funds were funneled into the King Drive area, which is bounded roughly by McKinley, Locust, N. 2nd and N. 4th Streets. During the 2000-'01 year, more than $151 million was invested in the neighborhood, Haywood said.

"We've had steady improvements, and the housing market now really is booming," he said. "That accounts for a very large part of the development in the past year."

Housing developments such as Cobbler's Loft, Reservoir Loft and other Brewer's Hill condominium projects are bringing customers to King Drive businesses and creating needs for more services in the area, Haywood said.

Non-believers need only look at the expansion projects of Ja-Stacy, a restaurant on King Drive. The business recently added an outdoor patio and 40-seat dining room to complement the existing 30-seat dining room. The expansion will accommodate the restaurant's influx of customers, owner Stacy Hasan said.

"The area is expanding, and a lot more people are finding out about it," said Hasan, who co-owns Ja-Stacy with Aaron Hasan. "It's close to downtown, and if you look at each direction into downtown you'll find an up-and-coming area. The Third Ward to the south, Brady Street to the east and King Drive to the north."

Housing and commercial development is not mutually exclusive, as is evidenced in the King Drive area. One of the development tools the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District offers is a $5,000 façade grant that the city matches, Haywood said.

While housing is the dominant development project there these days, business development continues, bringing both national chains and local businesses to the area.

Time Warner Cable moved its headquarters to the King Drive-McKinley Street area a couple of years ago. Restaurants like Ponderosa, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wong's Wok have also joined the neighborhood.

Eat 3, a fast food restaurant featuring pastas, wraps and desserts such as ice cream and pastries opened on King Drive at Vine Street, Haywood said.