The competition is anything but simple: Design the future, and design it fast, along five acres of vacant government-owned river bluff property in downtown St. Paul.

As part of a commercial real estate development association’s 15th annual university challenge, undergraduate real estate programs from six regional schools were asked to submit redevelopment concepts for Ramsey County’s Kellogg Boulevard riverfront property, the former home of West Publishing and the county’s adult detention center.

After years of failed efforts to market the site to the private sector, the county spent $17 million to clear the river bluff in an attempt to draw a private developer. An elaborate $225 million redevelopment plan led by a Phoenix-based developer fell through last summer.

The six submissions will be culled down to three by a panel of developers, investors and real estate experts from Diversified Real Estate Services, CBRE, TCF Bank, Newmark Knight Frank, Ramsey County and EG Capital.

Students representing the three finalists will present reports on April 19 at Treasure Island Center in downtown St. Paul.

Student groups from the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette University and the University of Northern Iowa are competing for scholarship funds.

More than 35 sponsors have contributed to the contest, including the Opus Foundation, Ramsey County, Hempel and the St. Paul Port Authority.