Work may start later this year to restore a 5.2-acre former tidal marsh property along the Corte Madera bayfront with goals of stemming flooding from predicted sea level rise and helping wildlife.

The property is situated at the end of Industrial Way, behind the Cost Plus Plaza shopping center, and will become part of the roughly 300-acre Corte Madera Ecological Reserve.

Last week the state Coastal Conservancy voted to approve $524,000 of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant funds to Marin Audubon Society to restore the site. Last month the Corte Madera Town Council augmented zoning to allow for the work.

“We think it’s a great project,” said Laura Cholodenko, conservancy project manager.

Protecting the property is critical because it is surrounded on three sides by the reserve’s tidal marsh, backers said. Because it is now filled, the property can’t function as a marsh and provides poor habitat for wildlife, according to environmentalists.

“Restoring it will be helpful for wildlife,” said Lowell Sykes, vice president of the Marin Audubon Society, the group that is sponsoring the project, which could start by September and be done by the end of the year. “But there will be public access along the perimeter.”

In June 2014, Marin Audubon signed a contract to buy the land and then raised the $1.04 million to pay for it. Escrow has closed, the group announced in September 2015.

Once completed the land will be donated to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of the ecological reserve.

The adjacent marsh supports a large population of endangered California clapper rails and is one of the few marshes in the bay that has never been diked for farming, industry or potential development. Such older marshes have more complex channel systems and vegetation than newer marshes.

To restore the tidal marsh, fill will be removed to lower the land to marsh elevations. Past filling has left the property several feet higher than the adjacent marsh. In addition to re-establishing the marsh, the restoration will create a vegetated upland area where clapper rails can hide from predators.

Within the upland area a 150-foot-long public access path will be built to provide views of the restored and existing habitat, while protecting wildlife from disturbances.

In past years, office and housing developments were considered for the property and the project site is in an area that was planned and zoned for buildings. Last month, Corte Madera officials amended the general plan to change the land use category from “office” to “wetlands and marshlands.” They also amended zoning ordinances to change the project site zoning from “office” to “parks, open space, and natural habitat,” according to the conservancy.

The restored area will also help absorb those rising tides, project backers said. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission maps show the bay pushing almost all the way to Highway 101 in parts of Novato, as well as water covering low-lying areas of Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Sausalito and Tiburon, among other areas.

A recent study coordinated by the Coastal Conservancy and other organizations found that 54,000 acres of wetlands need to be restored around the bay in the next 15 years to provide protection from surging storms.

The acquisition of the land was part of the Campaign for Marin Baylands, a partnership between Marin Audubon Society and Marin Baylands Advocates. The partnership has purchased more than a dozen bayland properties since 1990. Acquisitions include Triangle Marsh along Paradise Drive in Corte Madera and Bahia in Novato.