Preston - With 85 percent of the buildings at the former Norwich Hospital torn down, the Preston Redevelopment Agency is gearing up for its next, perhaps even more difficult job: attracting desirable, taxpaying development to the 393-acre Preston Riverwalk property.

To that end, the PRA welcomed the nomination by a Hartford-area development attorney that Preston Riverwalk be the subject of an intensive real estate marketing analysis by a team of national experts from the Counselors of Real Estate.

The group's CRE Consulting Corps sends five-member teams of experts from across the country to a selected area and provides an in-depth analysis and plan for municipalities and nonprofit property owners. The PRA is covering the $35,000 cost of the project, mainly for the team's travel and research and expenses associated with meetings with municipal and economic development leaders.

On Friday, the team will present its findings at a 9 a.m. public forum at the Hilton Garden Inn in Preston. In 30 days, the group will present its written report to the PRA, which local officials hope will provide a realistic "path forward" as the PRA turns from demolition and environmental cleanup to marketing and development.

PRA Chairman Sean Nugent said the timing of the invitation to participate in the CRE study was perfect for the all-volunteer town agency. Nugent admitted he was starting to worry about whether the agency so geared - successfully - at obtaining state and federal grants for the cleanup could switch to marketing and development.

"What we do will affect long-term the site, the town and the region," Nugent said. "Are we doing it right?"

CRE team member William Norton, president of Norton Asset Management of Manchester, N.H., said Tuesday he couldn't yet discuss specifics of what the group's recommendations would be at the end of the study. But he said he and other team members are very impressed with the work done thus far by the PRA and town leaders in taking on the decaying, contaminated property.

Norton said the property has many attractive points, including river views, access to water and sewer, proximity to the region's two casinos. But it also is very large and not likely to attract one major development. "They tried that a couple of times and it was not successful," he said.

Norton said the concept of selling and developing the property parcel by parcel in phases seems to suit the property. The next question would be what types of development to bring to which parcel.

"That's a harder question than what do you NOT want there," Norton said.

The team reviewing Preston Riverwalk consists of Norton, David McCoy of Hawaii, James Patton of Baltimore and Pam Torsiello of Hartford. A fifth member withdrew because of an injury.

The consultants received stacks of written materials - including maps and zoning regulations and past plans of development - ahead of their visit and arrived in town on Monday. They toured the Riverwalk property and met with town officials Monday.

On Tuesday, the group took a driving tour of the region and continued meeting in small groups with local officials. Tuesday night, the group held a dinner meeting with regional economic development leaders from chambers of commerce, the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, Norwich Community Development Corp. and the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region.

Today, the group will continue individual and small group meetings, including planned meetings with tribal council members of the Mashantucket and the Mohegan tribes. On Thursday, members will remain at Hilton Gardens Inn to review their notes and write their report for Friday's presentation.

Norton said CRE Consulting Corps usually does two to four such analyses per year, and one year received 29 applications. The target properties vary greatly from small town squares to the entire state of South Carolina. Norton's own firm did a master plan in the mid-1990s for the former New Hampshire state mental illness hospital. That campus was turned into a state office park for a variety of state functions.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Counselors of Real Estate presentation on marketing and potential future development at Preston Riverwalk, former Norwich Hospital property. It is open to the public.

WHEN: 9 a.m. Friday, March 20

WHERE: Hilton Gardens Inn, corner of Watson Road and Route 2, Preston.