If completed, the Brush Park project would add to a flurry of construction in the once-posh 117-acre neighborhood north of downtown that claimed the Kahns and the Whitneys as residents among other historical Detroit elites.

Arthur Jemison, the city's director of housing and revitalization, said notice of the RFP went out last month to about 300 people including developers, contractors, state employees and nonprofits.

Brush Park fell into decay over the course of decades, but large new residential projects underway or completed by Dan Gilbert's Detroit-based Bedrock LLC and Birmingham-based Broder & Sachse Real Estate Services LLC, among many others, have helped trigger sharp interest in the neighborhood east of Woodward Avenue and north of the Fisher Freeway.

Nearby, the former Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center is expected to be redeveloped by restaurateur Curt Catallo and KC Crain, president and COO of Crain Communications Inc., parent company of Crain's Detroit Business. Construction is expected to start early next year.

And Detroit native John Rhea, founder of Rheal Capital Management LLC, and Livonia-based Schostak Bros. & Co. are planning a nearly 300-unit housing development in Brush Park with a mix of incomes and home styles.