If you're thinking of investing in an iPod stocked with songs capable of drowning out the rumble of forklifts or heavy car traffic, now may be the time because the construction isn't stopping as the North Shore experiences an unprecedented building boom.

Over the next year, builders will put the finishing touches on the largest real estate developments in the history of St. Tammany Parish. The hundreds of acres of new homes, shops and offices promise to change the face of the parish at a time when a lagging economy and national credit crisis has slowed the pace of real estate development in other areas of the country.

Six of the largest projects in the works - Terrabella; Nord du Lac; Rooms To Go Outlet and Distribution Center; Chenier and Cypress Bend - are expected be at least partially open for business in 2009, while Summit Fremaux in Slidell is expected to have its first phase complete in 2010. Half of these projects will rise alongside Louisiana Highway 21.

The concentration of new development reflects a growing westward migration of commercial and residential activity from traffic-choked U.S. Highway 190 to the quieter highway that connects Madisonville to Covington.

"Highway 190 has been the major commercial boulevard in St. Tammany," said Quentin Dastugue, CEO of New Orleans-based real estate company Property One Inc. "Now (Highway) 21 is becoming the alternative because 190 has gotten so crowded. "

Dastugue is the developer for Cypress Bend, a 24-acre office park being built near the intersection of Interstate 12 and Highway 21 off Ochsner Boulevard.