Construction is under way on a 204-slip private marina next to the city's new convention center and a developer is hoping the renewed effort will spur much needed life along land that has sat vacant for years.

Chuck Schoninger, managing member of Northern Riverfront Marina and Hotel LLLP, said it's just the start of what he's planned for years to be a hub of commercial growth. He is also touting an eight- to nine-story Indigo hotel across the street along with three adjacent restaurants.

A conceptual plan of the hotel has come before he city's technical review committee but Schoninger still must submit site plans for the proposed 135-room boutique style hotel to start the permitting process.

"It's still mostly unknown at this point," City Planner Christine Hughes said.

Since 2008 when Schoninger entered into a development agreement with the city, he's had plans to create a retail, residential and hotel project. But the economy got the better of him, he said.

Schoninger was also the agent for Zephyr Land Holdings LLC, which owned part of the land along the riverfront from the convention center to the Isabel Holmes Bridge and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2010.

Schoninger now says he has secured financing from Chinese investors through a program that rewards successful foreign investors with green cards. The investors have to spend at least $500,000 to get their green cards through the federal program that was set up in 1990 under the Bush administration to promote economic growth.

Schoninger, who has established a company in China called USAInvestCo, said he and his employees give presentations about the lure of Wilmington to potential investors and are trying to raise $27.5 million. He said the company has already raised more than half of that. He said the funding works as a low interest loan and must meet requirements made by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

Renewing the riverfront

Schoninger said he plans to rent the marina slips at first, which he expects to attract large yachts. He said years out he hopes to develop condominiums on the property as well. He also has plans to refurbish an existing pier next to the site with a restaurant on the end. The marina is expected to open in spring 2013.

Schoninger also is hoping the city will buy property adjacent to the marina lot for a proposed baseball stadium. The city is negotiating with the Atlanta Braves and Mandalay Baseball to determine the cost and feasibility of the city building a stadium for a Braves minor league team.

The hotel, according to the developer, is scheduled to open in 2014. As Schoninger floats his plans, the city council at its last meeting passed a memorandum of understanding with Harmony Hospitality to build an Embassy Suites on the convention center property. The city is in the process now of determining what the developer has to do before the property changes hands.

The development agreement between Schoninger and the city states he can choose whether to build the property to the city's code as of 2008 or the current code.

It also gives the city an easement to be able to extend the public Riverwalk when the land is developed. The Riverwalk, just more than a mile long, starts beyond Chandler's Wharf and ends at the convention center. The goal is to extend it all the way to the Isabel Holmes Bridge.

"This, to me, is what you need in a downtown," Schoninger said of his proposed projects.

Hughes said the goal of the city's development agreement was to have a give and take on both the part of the developer and the government.

"Hopefully, in the end, we all benefit from it," she said.

Shelby Sebens: 343-2076

On Twitter: @ShelbySebens