CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Spring Creek, the mixed-use development taking place on 25th Street, is hitting its stride just as environmental concerns are growing stronger.

“The economy is slower than we would like for it to be,” said Tom Cate, one of the principal developers along with businesswoman Brenda Lawson.

“But ironically, what is happening with the economy, with fuel, all that fits with this type of development. It’s all-inclusive — living, shopping, dining and working all within one area,” he said during a drive through the development last week.

“With fuel costs and all those things we are, as a nation, experiencing, people are looking at redefining your life.”

Spring Creek, he said, uses eco-friendly building products, smaller lots and high-efficiency homes and includes walking areas and pocket parks. Small streets with a traffic roundabout encourage people to drive more slowly, and residents are encouraged to use electric vehicles that look like golf carts.

Spring Creek is the first mixed-use community of its kind in the area. Some homes have been built and sold. The first retail building, which will be topped with loft apartments, is under construction now.

Calls are beginning to come in from interested people across the Southeast, Mr. Cate said.

“We are seeing a lot of tire-kickers,” home builder Drew Morrow said. “We see a lot of interest while we are here working. Especially on weekends we see a lot of traffic.”

“They can look at anything that’s available. And there’s an agent in the sales trailer on weekends,” homebuilder Al Shumaker added.

Local government leaders have been looking, too. Both City Council and County Commission members have discussed in recent weeks how pedestrian routes will link Spring Creek to nearby Mayfield Elementary, Ocoee Middle, Lee University, downtown and the Cleveland/Bradley County Greenway.

Mayor Tom Rowland is scheduled to meet with visiting experts next week concerning a veterans park planned on a corner of property donated by the Spring Creek developers.

The developers said they’re negotiating with businesses such as boutiques, restaurants, banks, pharmacies and food stores.

The business park is designed for a variety of office buildings, Mr. Cate said.

When it’s all done in years to come, there will be about 200 residents, 85,000 square feet of commercial space and that much again in business space, all tucked into some of the site’s woodlands.

“I think we may be evolving into much more maybe than what we originally thought we were,” Mr. Cate said.

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