He won’t describe specific plans or a price for the project, but reveals it would feature 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of office and residential space.

Formerly owned by Norfolk Southern Corporation, the site was sold in March, says Jim McCarthy, executive director of the Richmond Riverfront Corporation. But McCarthy declined to reveal details.

People in the area say the primary owners are grocery-store magnate Jim Ukrop and real-estate developer Ivor Massey, who’s on the board of directors of nearby La Difference.

Another part-owner is Highwoods Properties, a real estate investment trust headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., which holds properties in nine states, including at least 39 holdings in the Richmond area.

Highwoods typically owns buildings and offers leasing, managing and developing services. Paul W. Kreckman, a Highwoods vice president who is associated with the project, also worked on the celebrated Martin Agency building at 1 Shockoe Plaza.

The property boasts 210 feet of canal frontage and sits across from the Turning Basin building, the recently completed home of First Market Bank and several other companies. Originally, McCarthy explains, the two sites were “one big, long parcel,” that was subdivided by the reconstruction of the Kanawha Canal. —