Coles has pulled out of the stalled Ambience development at Fairy Meadow, receivers for the company behind the project have revealed.
The news comes as a major blow to the suburb's business owners who say the fate of the incomplete building has been the main concern for the area's commercial operators.
Work on the complex, at the corner of the Princes Hwy and Elliotts Rd, stopped in 2008. KordaMentha was appointed receiver of Belmorgan firm SPV 7 Pty Ltd, more than a year ago.
EDITORIAL: Coles pull-out major blow for Fairy Meadow
Ambience back in limboEarly in 2009 Coles had expressed an interest in remaining a tenant "subject to the completion of the building by the end of the year", but a spokesman for KordaMentha yesterday confirmed rumours Coles had withdrawn support for the project six months ago.
The loss of the project's major tenant has left the receiver scrambling for a replacement.
"At the moment we are pursuing strategies to secure tenants prior to making a decision on what to do at the site," the spokesman said. "Coles were the prior big commitment to the retail side and they have left and we are currently seeking alternatives."
Asked whether the building would be demolished if tenants could not be found, the spokesman said the receiver had "not given serious consideration to demolishing the ... built form".
Belmorgan halted construction on the Ambience site in mid-2008 and the company was placed into administration on January 5, 2009.
The future of the development had seemed assured when receiver KordaMentha said in April last year that work would restart within six to eight weeks and be completed by Christmas.
Now, unless new tenants are secured, no timeline for construction can be set.
"There's something in the order of nine months worth of construction work needed at the site," the KordaMentha spokesman said yesterday.
Fraternity Club general manager Daniel Perkiss said the future of the incomplete Belmorgan project was by far the biggest issue raised by business owners in a recent Corrimal Chamber of Commerce survey.
"The overwhelming response was that people were looking to Ambience to be the heart of Fairy Meadow and now it's become an eyesore," he said.
"How long is it going to sit there?"
Coles declined to comment.
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