BUYERS hoping for a sneak preview of a luxury new development in Hampstead will be disappointed – the project is currently running more than a year behind schedule.
The development on the site of the former ABC cinema in South End Green was due to open in December last year.
It will include a Marks and Spencer store and 36 luxury one, two and three-bedroom flats
But bosses say that problems with contractors and changes to the original design mean the building will not be ready until January, 2006, with the Marks and Spencer store not likely to open until March, 2006.
The delays have forced the closure of an on-site sales office and managers have also pulled the plug on a website and telephone line advertising the flats – although a board near the site still carries their details.
Noel De Keyzer, a director at Savills, the company marketing the flats, said: “We launched last spring but we launched too early.
“The show flat was supposed to be ready last September but we had some problems with contractors, which have caused the delay.
“We also changed the design to improve the layout so we merged some of the flats – there will now be 36 flats instead of 39.
“I am hoping the show flat will now be ready in September for prospective buyers.”