A long-envisioned retail and residential project proposed north of downtown Coeur d’Alene is back in the forefront after a few years of delays, though at a smaller scale than originally proposed, the Lake City Development Corp. says.

The three-story project, with an estimated value of $7.1 million, would include 38 workforce-housing units on the second and third floors and 4,000 square feet of commercial space on the street level, according to a recent post on the LCDC website. LCDC is Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency.

The Housing Co., a Boise-based nonprofit that preserves, develops and supports affordable housing in underserved areas of Idaho, hopes to develop the project, which would be located near the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Roosevelt Avenue, in the heart of Coeur d’Alene’s Midtown district.

The project originally was proposed about five years ago and was envisioned as a $9 million, four-story development with more than 50 living units and about 10,000 square feet of commercial space. Other residents in the Midtown area opposed the original plan, saying its size didn’t fit the character of the neighborhood.

LCDC has pledged the land and $547,000 for public improvements to the property contingent on The Housing Co. obtaining funding needed to complete the project.

The Housing Co. says it plans to seek tax credits through a competitive process and hopes to have the project funding secured by next fall. If the funding efforts are successful without further delay, construction could begin in the spring of 2015 and would take about a year to complete, The Housing Co. says.

The project would include 14 studio units each with 450 square feet of living space, 17 one-bedroom units with 650 square feet of living space, and seven two-bedroom units with 850 square feet of living space.

Monthly rents would be $300 to $600 depending on the income of the occupants, LCDC says.

Miller Stauffer Architects PA, of Coeur d’Alene, designed the project. No contractor has been selected for it yet.