This probably would have flown way under the radar, but the westward extension of the Riverwalk is already underway.
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/d..._river_default
As of now, there's nothing of major interest in the area other than the giant post office building and a few light industrial buildings. It's kind of disconnected from the main Riverwalk because of the Riverfront Towers (which have a private marina along the shore) and a concrete jumble of a mess that's the off-ramp of the Lodge Freeway and the JLA parking garage. I wonder if they tear down JLA, hopefully they'll take down the parking garage as well? Fingers crossed.
Anyway, the point is, there's good potential for the strip of area if things are configured right.
http://goo.gl/maps/7XtHz