New Chinatown developer North Point Global (NPG) has insisted it remains “committed” to completing the £200 million scheme despite recent setbacks.

The property firm has announced that an agreement to sell the project to a joint venture between Your Housing Group and WELINK has collapsed, but it vows to explore alternative means of delivery.

NPG claims the acquisition ran into lengthy delays, leading it to conclude that selling to the joint venture was not in its best interest.

The drawn-out negotiations are said to have left the developer with “enormous decommissioning costs” and a disrupted timetable, but it reveals plans to return to site with a new contractor in place.

An NPG spokesperson says: “After some five months of negotiations and no end in sight North Point Global concluded that it was in its best interests to withdraw from the sale because there was no likelihood at all that it would ever complete because Your Housing Group and WELINK actually had neither the approval nor the money to proceed.

“NPG is committed to working to a satisfactory resolution and completion of New Chinatown for all the benefits it will bring to the city.”

An artist’s impression of New Chinatown

Previous contractor Bilt Group – which has since fallen into administration – was removed from the project in December last year.

NPG issued the statement after Liverpool City Council admitted it is “extremely concerned” about the lack of progress made on New Chinatown, adding that it is exploring “various options” to ensure the regeneration scheme is delivered.

A city council spokesman says: “Liverpool City Council is extremely concerned at the lack of progress at the New Chinatown site. Various options are now being considered including how best to ensure the future delivery of the site.”

Set in the heart of Europe’s oldest Chinese community, New Chinatown was expected to see hundreds of new apartments built on land off Great George Street, complete with new retail and leisure facilities.

Groundwork has already begun on the first phase of the project, although little of it remains visible above ground, and NPG claims that a planning application for the second and third phases is forthcoming.

NPG revealed in November last year that more than half of the 790 apartments planned for the Great George Street site have been sold to investors, both in the UK and overseas.

Your Move approached Your Housing Group for comment, but the Warrington-based firm declined to issue a statement.

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