West Eighth Street’s “shoe zone” is looking a bit like a newly-gentrified enclave, but rather than being a long subway ride away in a gritty industrial zone, it’s around the corner from some of New York City’s most desirable apartments.

In the middle of the popular destination and residential hotspot of Greenwich Village, the short stretch of West Eighth Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway has, for decades, seemed out of place, bordering on seedy in its retail offerings, which consisted mainly of funky runway-knockoff shoe stores. The surrounding neighborhood is home to some of the city’s most coveted addresses, from the historic NYC townhouse apartments overlooking Washington Square Park to classic, elegant co-op apartment buildings like One and Two Fifth Avenue and the modern 13-story condo at 147 Waverly Place.

Recently, the familiar strip has developed a new identity more in keeping with its Village environs, and the street’s landlords have been making an effort to bring in quality tenants. Anchoring the revitalized blocks will be a new boutique hotel at 5 West Eighth Street in the Marlton House. The new hotel, from the creators of the uber-hip Jane Hotel in the West Village and the Bowery Hotel, is scheduled to open in 2013. An outpost of the Park Slope-based Textile Arts Center adds fine art cachet. Another newcomer is Stumptown Coffee Roasters; the boutique coffee roastery will open their first standalone cafe at the corner of West Eighth and MacDougal Streets this summer. Already on the street: Neta, a sleek, connoisseur- and critic-approved sushi restaurant, Apple Cafe and Bakery, a cupcake-and-vegan-treats shop from the Williamsburg Pies and Thighs empire and Growler Station, offering fresh craft beers in trendy takeaway containers (WSJ).