Three developers have been shortlisted to transform the Rochester Riverside site into a flagship regeneration project for Medway.

The 74-acre Rochester Riverside project will create up to 1,400 homes along the River Medway.

As well as houses and flats, the development will include public open spaces, a riverside walk, a new primary school, hotel, office space, shops and restaurants.

Medway Council and its partner, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), have already invested £90million preparing the site, to ensure it is ready for immediate development.

Five developers originally expressed an interest in developing the site and the three shortlisted parties will now enter into detailed negotiations with the council and HCA, ahead of submitting their final financial and design proposals in November.

It is intended that the successful developer will be announced in March 2016 and the work will be carried out over 15 years.

Leader of Medway Council, Cllr Alan Jarrett, said: “Rochester Riverside is one of the most important regeneration projects Medway will see for many years.

“The riverfront will be transformed into a sustainable and vibrant place to live, visit and work as well as complement and strengthen links with the historic heart of Rochester."

Medway’s head of Regeneration Cllr Rodney Chambers added: “With the new £26million Rochester Railway station due to open on the doorstep of Rochester Riverside in December, this really will is one of the most exciting regeneration projects anywhere along the Thames Gateway.”

An underpass from the town centre to the station will also provide access to the Rochester Riverside development on the other side of the tracks.

Rochester's Corporation Street car park will be closed from September to December while Network Rail completes railway station works.

The building work is the latest phase of a £26 million project to move the station 500m up the track from its present home to create a longer platform and allow 12-car trains to stop in the heart of the town.

A spokeswoman for Medway Council said they cannot divulge the names of the shortlisted developers, as they bid against each other for the contract.