Some tenants still waiting to take over lots on the Frankton Flats site were becoming concerned about the lack of communication over their moving-in date, after the scale of construction problems on site was revealed on Wednesday.
One tenant, who asked not to be named, said he was meant to take possession of his premises on Monday, but when he visited the site this week it "didn't look anywhere near ready".
He said he was issued a hand-over certificate in late August, which was withdrawn last Friday.
"Obviously, they knew long before last Friday they weren't going to be ready.
"I'm assuming it's going to be a month delay. For local businesses it has a bigger impact."
Most of the $100million first stage of the retail complex, made up of about 45 tenants spread over four buildings, was expected to open yesterday.
A new Kmart store now being fitted out is now due to open on October 18, two weeks later than previously announced, but other tenants claimed their hand-over dates were yet to be confirmed.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council confirmed on Wednesday that a construction worker cut through reinforcing steel bars connecting foundations and walls on the Kmart site, leading to builders Dominion Constructors Ltd being issued with a "notice to fix" in late August to resolve issues affecting two buildings.
Remedial works are under way but the council announced it would need to sign off on the works before public access to the site was allowed.
Both Dominion and Queenstown Central claimed the delays were mostly due to adverse weather, which affected road and car park sealing works.
An email, seen by the Otago Daily Times, was sent to tenants last Friday by Evan Harris, of Colliers real estate agency, stating contractors were unable to finish construction work to allow tenants to start their fit-outs as planned.
The email said some hand-over certificates had been withdrawn due to construction delays.
Queenstown Central general manager Simon Holloway said the four separate buildings had "varying completion and tenant hand-over dates".
He said more premises would be handed over to tenants over the next few weeks.
Several companies expected to set up shop at the site were contacted for comment yesterday.
Kiwibank confirmed its fit-out had been delayed and it was seeking an explanation and confirmation of a revised hand-over date.
Cassie Arauzo, corporate relations partner at Spark New Zealand, said the company was "working closely with the landlord" but did not wish to comment further.
