A property developer has promised to restore missing hoardings and deliver a major scheme backed by former Liverpool FC player Robbie Fowler.
Mr Fowler announced a partnership with the Elatus Development Group for a scheme called St Anne's Gardens in February 2020.
The project was to build around 300 new apartments on land at the junction of Fox Street and St Anne Street.
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At the time a representative for Mr Fowler told the ECHO that work was set to start within 12 weeks and they hoped to complete the 325 home scheme in the autumn of 2021.
No new homes have been built at the site and there is no evidence of any activity.
The hoardings, which displayed corporate branding and Mr Fowler's image holding a football, have now dissapeared from the site.
The ECHO became aware of the missing hoardings around three weeks ago.
A spokesman for Elatus said: "The hoardings were damaged by vandals and there was further damage during the poor weather.
"We had to remove the damaged hoardings but hope to replace them very soon."
A spokesperson for Mr Fowler told the ECHO that the former striker was still an ambassador for the scheme.
The spokesperson added that Mr Fowler was not involved in the day to day running of the scheme.
The spokesman for Elatus told the ECHO that the company was still committed to the scheme, and that work was about to start very soon.
He said: "We are determined to deliver the scheme but have been delayed by Covid and other technical issues.
"We hope to be on site very soon and have appointed a contractor to deliver the scheme."
The spokesman declined to name the contractor.
Last year the ECHO revealed that the site increased in value by £950,000 over a 24 hour period on May 2 2017
The site was sold by Pointfield Developments Limited to Pinnacle MC Global Network Limited for £2,350,000.00 on May 2 2017
Pinnacle MC Global Network Limited then sold the land to St Anne's (Liverpool) Limited ('SAL') for £2,380.000.00 on May 2 2017
St Anne's (Liverpool) Limited then sold the land to St Annes Street Limited for £3,300,000.00 on May 2 2017
Speaking at the time Richard Kemp, leader of the city's Liberal Democrats, described the price rise as 'disconcerting.'
There is no suggestion the current owners of the site are linked to any of the previous owners. St Annes Street Limited, the owners of the site , has assets of £3,185,783, and owes the same amount to a bank.
Mr Fowler, one of the club's most celebrated players, released a statement in 2020 which read : “I’m delighted to announce that I have teamed up with Elatus Development Group to develop St Anne's Gardens."
“I have always had a passion for property development and to be part of a big project like this is not only great for my personal ambition but will be great for this region of Liverpool.”
Last October a spokesman for the developers said to the ECHO : "The amount made by the previous land owner was based on a three to four year option.
"They will have had huge costs to get it through planning and three to four years of work to get it through. So, I think the actual amount ( of money) made between these parties will have been a lot less. We only see what was paid against what it sold for, which was also slightly less than is on land registry.
"We took advice from our funder and took an independent valuation of the site . We were happy with the amount we paid for the site.
"The site has been delayed for a number of factors some of which were beyond our control.
"Early last year the planning permission on the site lapsed and we thought we could resurrect it within a matter of weeks.
"Unfortunately we had to submit a new planning application which took 10 months to get through and significant costs.
"We then had to negotiate the s106 agreement ( where a developer agrees to fund a scheme that is for the public benefit) with the council which then took us into this year. There has also been the pandemic.
"There have also been many issues around the price and supply of building materials and negotiations failed with a number of contractors.
"On a plus note we have now negotiated deals with contractors and we are now looking to be on site as soon as physically possible.
"The scheme is based on sales but is a funded scheme and sales will work in conjunction with funding and we also have paid to organise insolvency cover for the project.
"Our accounts show a debt on the site and there is a charge to a bank.
"Gaining development funding is difficult and complex. We have been paying interest on the debt.
"We filed a late confirmation statement earlier this year during a period of time when one of our directors suffered a bereavement."
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