COEUR d'ALENE - Lake City Development Corp. said Wednesday it will wait and see whether a tax-credit application is approved before determining a next move in midtown.

Should The Housing Company receive tax credits, the city's urban renewal agency said more meetings would be scheduled between stakeholders regarding a proposed 45-unit workforce housing and retail development project on Fourth Street.

"Everything is contingent on them getting approval on those tax credits," said Jim Elder, LCDC member. "Whether or not they can convince the property owners and people in midtown that it's a good project remains to be seen. But they're certainly going to make that effort."

The agency spoke about the project during its monthly board meeting.

Last week, dozens of midtown residents met with THC representatives to voice concerns they had with the project. Some said the four-story building was too big for the neighborhood, while several others were unhappy that the project had been switched to workforce housing from the original plan of selling condos atop commercial space.

"It gave a good chance to air some concerns, and, you know, rightly so," said Dave Patzer, LCDC board member, on the neighborhood meeting. "I think the game has changed a little bit over what the last several years - what the intended use or proposed use of the property (was). I think everyone needs to understand what the new game is now so this is kind of the first step toward that."

LCDC has pledged around $540,000 in financial support for the project should Idaho Housing and Finance Association approve the tax-credit application as soon as this spring.

If approved, it could net THC more than $5 million in credits to build units for people who earn 60 percent of the area's median income.

The project at Fourth Street and Roosevelt Avenue has been talked about since around 2007. The market decline killed the condo prospect, and in November THC switched to rentals available for qualified people, called workforce housing, that THC says the market demands.

Following the stakeholders meeting, THC company said it would look to schedule more meetings to see what options are out there to move a project forward that will satisfy the neighborhood. If the application is denied, the planning project essentially goes back to square one, the board said.

"There was a lot of emotions there that night," said Brad Jordan, LCDC member. "The people in midtown care about their neighborhood, they're fighting for their neighborhood, they care about it and I understand that. We definitely have some ground to cover."

• LCDC also awarded Phase 1B of the education corridor infrastructure project to Interstate Concrete and Asphalt of Coeur d'Alene. The agency agreed to pay around $625,000 on the $1.07 million bid, with the city of Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho College covering the rest. The project, which could get under way this spring, will punch out River Avenue to Northwest Boulevard.