FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) - The city of Fort Wayne will accept request for qualifications on the North River property starting February 8.

The city bought the 29 acres bounded by Clinton, Fourth and Harrison streets in December.

The site was used as a rail yard and scrap yard for more than 100 years. The land has not been actively used since 2006.

City leaders are working with the Indiana Brownfields Program to receive a letter indicating it is comfortable with the North River property being used for future development.

This could include some additional soil sampling work, which is common practice when a site goes from one type of use to a different type of use.

The RFQ will be available beginning Thursday, Feb. 8 at www.fwcommunitydevelopment.org. After that Fort Wayne would move to a request for proposals (RFP) process to submit their formal proposals for development of the North River property.

City leaders anticipate having the North River property rezoned to allow for future development that’s more compatible for the area than the previous industrial use.

The future use of the property will determine the necessary site preparation or remediation.