A DEVELOPER has been left furious after council dumped his $50 million proposal for the old velodrome site.
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After months of negotiation, Tamworth Regional Council withdrew its offer after a lengthy expression of interest (EOI) process.
The project’s time frame loomed large as major factor for council pulling the pin.
Developer Michael Foxman said his plan for the site could have “easily” created 150 jobs for the city.
Mr Foxman told The Leader his proposal for the Peel St site included 167 apartments, 42 hotel rooms and 2500 square metres of retail space, potentially worth more than $50 million.
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He said “pissed off was an understatement” and hit out at the length of time and rigmarole it took to get to an ultimately fruitless point.
“It should have taken weeks,” he said.
“It took nine months.”
The proceeds from the sale of the land was earmarked for council’s contribution to the $17 million Northern Inland Sporting Centre of Excellence, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
Council had previously made some exceptions to assist the project, at the request of the purchaser.
In a closed meeting in September, councillors opted in favour of some changes requested by the developer, including adjusting some time frames.
Mayor Col Murray said there were some “pretty careful timing parameters” with the sale and development of the site and that it couldn’t be “open-ended” when asked why the plan was dumped.
“We did have that project out to EOI and council had selected one EOI to work with,” Cr Murray said.
“That hasn’t progressed, so council has withdrawn the offer and is now in the process of looking for other opportunities.”
The mayor said the scrapped proposal was “a great project”, but it wasn’t the only option on the table.
“It certainly was delivering, particularly, what the council was looking for,” he said.
“It was the best one at the time, but there are other options that were eminently satisfactory.
“It was a signature type investment; a genuine entry statement to the CBD.
“However, it’s not the only one, and I think there’ll be other just as good opportunities just around corner.”