The developers of Langtree at the Lake, a planned 400-acre mixed-use community at Lake Norman, have partnered with a national real estate development firm to begin work on Langtree's first phase of luxury apartments, a hotel and retail space.Mooresville-based Langtree Properties has formed a joint venture with RL West Properties of Toledo, Ohio, which will infuse "tens of millions of dollars" into the project's first phase, said Barry Rigby, RL West Properties' executive vice president for development.

At full buildout, Rigby said, Langtree at the Lake in southern Iredell County is expected to be a $1 billion development.

Mooresville developers Rick Howard and his son, Brad, have planned the commercial, residential and retail development at Interstate 77 Exit 32 for six years.

The project will include nearly 4 miles of waterfront and about 2 miles of I-77 frontage. John Q. Hammons Hotels&Resorts; plans to build a 300-room Embassy Suites hotel and a 75,000-square-foot convention center in Langtree at the Lake in another phase.

The joint venture, announced Thursday, will be called Langtree Development Co. LLC and will be an RL West Properties project. The new corporation closed on the 400 acres Tuesday. "It was basically a (land) transfer," Rick Howard said.

RL West is using bank financing and cash to finance its investment, Rigby said Friday. He declined to break down the financing or divulge the company's exact investment.

RL West is a real estate development and property management company with projects in 40 states, including the Carolinas.

The firm owns 101/2 acres at N.C. 73 and Odell School Road in Kannapolis, where it intends to construct commercial space, Rigby said. RL West has completed a 10,000-square-foot commercial building on S.C. 49 in Clover and plans to build a second, similar structure there, he said.

Site work on Langtree's first phase will begin in June or July, with construction starting in September, Rigby said.

The first phase totals about 50 acres in the development's southwest quadrant. It will have a half-mile of shoreline and will include 300 luxury apartments, 45,000 square feet of retail, 60,000 square feet of commercial space and a 150-room major-chain hotel whose name will be announced soon, the developers said.

The phase will have six five-story buildings with first-floor retail. Langtree has commitments from various Mooresville area and national retailers but won't announce them until contracts are finalized, Rigby said.

A parking deck, gas station/convenience store and clubhouse with a swimming pool are also part of phase one.

The first building should be completed by spring 2012, and all phase-one buildings by fall 2012, the developers said.