Detroit Riverfront Conservancy unveiled four conceptual designs

Area immediately surrounding the park has been largely devoid of new development

Park plans expected to generate considerable private sector real estate development

If past is prologue, there could be a lot of real estate development activity along the west Detroit riverfront in the coming years.

Last week, the nonprofit Detroit Riverfront Conservancy unveiled four conceptual designs for the 22-acre West Riverfront Park between Rosa Parks Boulevard and Eighth Street along the Detroit River.

The area immediately surrounding the park, which the conservancy purchased in 2014, has been largely devoid of new development. There is vacant land nearby along the river and a handful of large buildings to the north used by the U.S. Postal Service and Salvation Army.

There is also an apartment building owned by Dennis Kefallinos at Rosa Parks and Fort, among a handful of other smaller ones. A freight yard sits to the west; the land immediately east is vacant.

But depending on how the park shakes out, that landscape could change. Farther east of the park are the Riverfront Towers apartment and condo buildings, with land on both sides of the towers. Robert Gibbs, an urban planner who is principal of Birmingham-based Gibbs Planning Group, said the park plans "will generate considerable private sector real estate development when fully implemented."

"Columbus, Ohio, has recently built such a riverfront park with considerable success," he continued. "Also: Portland, Oregon, Chicago and Milwaukee."

Immediately abutting the area to the north are the Hubbard Richard and Corktown neighborhoods.

"We've always been focused on public space and viewed our investments as having a real return in changing people's lives and it's a real stimulus for economic development," said Mark Wallace, president and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. "On the east riverfront, the park space drives the market."

He said the $50 million park is likely to be a two-year project and will start once the conservancy raises the money.

"We think there will be a strong appetite among folks that could support this project," Wallace said.